#I was sad over how much this must mean for Sabo | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

pure-kirarin · 2 years

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Sabo x f!reader : Happy birthday Sabo <3

Wishing a happy birthday to Sabo <3 I love you so much dear, glad that you exist on this world <3

He wasn’t even real.

But then, why did you crave his touch so much? Why did the mere thought of him brought you to tears? Why did the note of mint in his perfume, the roughness of his hands, the golden of his eyelashes feel so real to you? Oh, and you have shared years and years of memories, laughs and tears as if you had always known, as if you had met in another time, on another planet, in another dimension.

He wasn’t real, and yet, the feelings were so vibrant, and you have never felt so alive, so safe and protected than after the day you two have met. You whispered then gently pressed a plushie on your lap. If only it was him. Your hands mindlessly kept caressing the stuffed toy as you hummed a croon. Today was unlike other days, it was his birthday. Your melancholy was fast brushed over by a wave of warmth in the pit of your stomach. A hopeful smile lined on your lips as you raised from your bed to put on your prettiest dress.

I want to be pretty for him.

A cloud of peach perfume, silver liner, and the simplest demure dress following the curves of your body like water. You parted your lips as your experienced fingers applied your tint ; the softest crimson glaze on your mouth. You pursed your lips and blew a kiss, twirling around only to imagine his hands on your waist.

You're so beautiful, angel.

Maybe he would say something along those lines ? Would he like your hair ? Would he notice that you dressed in blue, his favourite color ? Would he be happy that you only wanted the prettiest for him ? You laughed at the thought shyly and hugged your Sabo plush. Yes, he wasn't real, but your happiness was, you were in love, you have always waited for him and he was here through thick and thin.

You were a hollow shell when he came into your life, you somehow wanted to end it all, you didn't have the courage to keep pushing, to keep living, you just wanted to disappear, no meaning, no way out of this hell was possible, and then he came. You didn't even know how it all started, for he wasn't even he first character you noticed. But as you kept looking at him, as you kept learning about him, you couldn't help but fall in love. And before you even realized it, you were totally under his spell. The thought of him kept you motivated, the simple action of repeating his name three times felt like a magical spell that eased all of your pain. And god, did you feel pain ! The loneliness that you have always felt was eating you from inside, turning you into something you didn't recognize anymore ; an emotionless sculpture.

But he changed all of that in a way that felt effortless. He turned your monochrome world into a honey-colored painting and you couldn't thank him enough for that. Your heart was so full of love, and yet, you felt as if no words could express or be enough to describe your feelings. And suddenly, you morphed into a bashful kid whose feelings brought modest shame and timid giggles.

Your thoughts only went his way as you dressed, as you studied, as you walked alone in the streets, and yet so content of his imaginary hand sliding into yours.

« Oh gosh, I must be crazy » You said as you looked at your figures, and posters, and plushies, all representing him. With the tip of your finger, you touched the head of your figure and a smile played on your lips: grateful and yet so sad.

« Well ! I shouldn't be sad. It's his birthday today ! Dear god, please send him my message.»

You blew the candles and sat on your bed, listening to his crystaline singing voice, that of a prince charming, but not so charming. You hummed the lyrics to « Moonrise in your eyes », closing your eyes and imagining that those words were meant for you, only you.

Your gaze is lit up with kindness and stops this moment in time

Cross the darkness and take me far into the future

There’s a warmth I want to feel, my feelings haven’t disappeared

I’ve never wavered, I swear to it....

The loneliest of tears slid on your cheek, and suddenly, you burst into sobs that you tried to bury inside your pillow.

How can I be so nostalgic of you if I have never met you ?

Crying always tired you up and you abandoned yourself to fatigue.

You turned in your bed fluttering your eyelashes as you recognized the decor of your room. It was already dark. You sat on your bed and your heart almost dropped to your feet when you saw a familiar figure in front of your desk.

It wasn't possible. Was it a hallucination ? It couldn't be possible that you were now seeing him. Did shifting realities finally work ?

It was him, the same posture, that same top hat resting in his hand, and the same wavering intonations in his voice when he said ;

« Wow, is this cake for me ? It looks absolutely adorable. »

He turned to face your flabbergasted face, leaning against the desk. His head almost hit the ceiling, you had a rooftop room so it was low for someone his height.

« Ouch. Almost hurt myself. » He slid his fingers through his golden locks. « You know ? It's the first time that someone bakes a cake for me. It looks tasty, could I have a bite ? »

You looked at him in awe. Your eyes were wide open and hands resting on your lap as if you were no more than a porcelain doll. You nodded your hair energetically and got up, your legs almost not sustaining you. If this was a dream, then you didn't want to wake up, if it was shifting, then maybe god had heard your prayers. You stepped next to him, noticing the height gap between the two of you, just as much as you have calculated...But he looked even taller, even though he was a little hunched back. You didn't dare look at his face, you were scared that he'd disappear if you looked at him. You took the knife with a trembling hand and cut a piece. His big black eyes, mirroring the candle lights followed the graceful movements of your wrist.

« Is everything alright ? » He said. And you felt frustration, for he acted as if this situation was totally normal, while you have dreamt of the day you'd meet for so long, and now, you weren't even able to look at him.

You didn't answer. He raised his eyebrows in a frown. And for the first time, your eyes met. You let go of the knife and looked shyly into his eyes, lower lip trembling a bit and handing him the plate.

« I'm alright. I wasn't expecting you, that's all. » You looked away when his gloved hand took the plate off yours. « Thanks. Really ? Couldn't not show up when you have done so much for my birthday. It doesn't look like it but I rarely have time to celebrate it. »

You turned your back and sat back on your bed, fists on your knees. You had so much to say, so much to ask, and yet, you felt like you couldn't decipher your feelings.

« Sabo, » You said in a whisper. « You're really here. It's really you. You're in my room. Dear lord, Am I losing my mind ? » You said bitterly.

He had a cheerful laugh, of course not mocking you, but more like the laugh you'd have facing a cute puppy.

« Yes, I am here. And does it matter if it's real ? You know that it is deep down. I have always watched over you. I have always admired the power of your love. I am pretty much honored to see all what you do for me. »

He smiled gently as he took a spoonful of the chocolate cake. His eyes lit up like those of a child and his voice raised excitedly ;

« It's so good ! You're such a good baker. Thanks a lot. » And for the first time you heard your name out of his lips, and it was just as you have always imagined.

« Thank you...It's really nothing, you have always been here for me. It's the least I could do, please do tell me if I could do anything more. Sabo you have no idea what you have done for me through all this time. The thought that I could thank you now...I don't know what to do nor what to say. Just thank you for existing, thank you for saving me. »

You turned on him your eyes, trembling with tears. His hand ran through your hair, sliding a strand of hair behind your ear as his face got closer to you.

« You don't have to thank me. »

With his thumb, he wiped off the tear pearling on the corner of your eyes and whispered « Don't cry. » You held him tightly in your arms, as if you refused to let him go, breathing in his minty perfume.

« No, I should thank you for existing Sabo. I should thank you for saving me. »

You buried your head in his chest, fingers holding the fabric of his shirt. His hand tightened around your waist, and his hug felt as warm as you have always imagined....

« I'll be by your side as long as you need me, as long as you want me to be. »

...I promise. »

#Sabo x reader #sabo #one piece sabo #one piece x reader #one piece scenario #one piece imagines

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myonepiece · 3 years

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hi i was wondering if you could do some headcannons asl + law (separately) with a male s/o whos maybe more about open their relationship and basically a non shy!male. sfw & nsfw would be appreciated but its up to you !! enjoy your day/night and just know i love ur account :)

Ace, Sabo, Luffy, Law with an extroverted S/O (open about their relationship)

SFW + NSFW

Ace x non shy!male, Sabo x non shy!male, Luffy x non shy!male,

Law x non shy!male

Description: HCs of Ace, Sabo, Luffy, & Law (seperate) with an extroverted male s/o who is open about theur relationship

Warnings: partially NSFW

A/N: I need more male reader content I think I literally only have 2 posts 😅 I’m not 100% confident in my writing for male readers, I’m still learning and I apologize if there’s anything wrong with this & pls tell me if there is 💕

Ace NSFW, Luffy, Sabo, Law under the cut

SFW

Ace really wants someone who is open about their relationship with him, who’s proud to be dating him and shows him off. Ace wants to be able to show him off to everyone without making him uncomfortable, he loves that not only can he hug him and kiss him and smother him in affection publicly, but that he’ll initiate it himself aswell

he likes picking him up and throwing him over his shoulder in front of the crew, hearing their saracastic remarks to quit it, of course none of them would really have a problem with it in the first place, they loved seeing their brother so happy and in love- because it’s obvious Ace is in love. one of his favorite things to do is to find his boyfriend on deck and run over to scoop him into his arms and plop him on his lap for sleepy time

the fact that he gets to hold his hand without worrying about his embarrassment or discomfort, mostly because his boyfriend is the one who grabs his hand first, makes him all giddy and bubbly. it gives him a sense of perotection, that his boyfriend is by his side and Ace by his, it’s an easy way to let everyone else know that Ace is with him and they shouldn’t try anything

telling stories about him and their relationship, the special moments and the funny moments, telling them to the crew and laughing and listening to them “oooo” and “awhh” is another one of Ace’s favorite things. not only Ace loves how comfortable and open he is, but the Whitebeard crew does too- hearing embarrassing stories about their brother or seeing how whipped he is and teasing him for it. Whitebeard loves knowing that Ace has someone to look after him when he’s gone, and to give him the love that he deserves- Whitebeard is like Ace’s boyfriend’s #1 fan, huge supporter of their relationship and anyone who isn’t is gonna deal with him & the rest of the crew

he’s a sucker for his lover’s mushy love confessions and compliments, saying them so boldly and shamelessly in front of people gives him butterflies in his stomach and makes him blush, yes Ace can get flustered

NSFW

the public dirty talk is just- he’ll go up and put his hands around his boyfriend’s torso and whisper the perviest things in his ear “your ass looks nice today”, “I can see the hickies I left last night” “no ones at the back of the boat, how bout I go bend you over the railing hm?”

and if he do the same to Ace? whoo boy, he goes weak in the knees and I’m not kidding, whimpers right there, or if he’s more fiery that night, he growls

Ace has no problem kissing his s/o in public, and if it turns into a makeout session, so be it. however he tries to keep those public makeouts short so none of the crew get uncomfortable. Ace will keep him on his lap until the two can go somewhere more private

as much as Ace loves how open his boyfriend is with their relationship, he doesn’t want him to tell any of the crew what goes on in the bedroom when Ace is the sub, that does happen- Ace is a switch with more dom tendencies, but still a switch

Ace will literally go up to his boyfriend on deck and grope his ass from behind, using his own body to shield his actions from anyone else’s eyes. and he sometimes will just boldly grab his boyfriend’s dick/groin, as long as Whitebeard doesn’t see

SFW

Sabo can be confident or flustered, no in between. he’s so happy that his boyfriend is completely okay with their relationship and letting everyone know about it. he feels like that means he’s not ashamed to be with Sabo, it also means that if Sabo is ever feeling down it won’t be weird for him to find his boyfriend, and Sabo wants to be tehre for him as much as he can and he wouldn’t be able to do that as well if they had to hide their relationship

he likes that everyone at in the R.A. knows his lover and say hi when passing, Koala and him are like best friends- that’s probably the only part of his boyfriend’s open-nesss that he doesn’t like, Koala and him always share humiliating stories and tease Sabo about everything

Sabo is touch starved, thank god his boyfriend is 100% okay with pda, seriously Sabo has to/wants to hold his hand every second. public hugs, hand holding, and nose kisses are a must. Sabo adores kissing him on his nose or cheek. Koala always fake gags when Sabo is the one to initiate any affection, but when his boyfriend does it Koala always “awhh”s

just being able to sit with his boyfriend on his lap, or sitting on his boyfriend’s lap is amazing, providing a sense of peace in the hectic life of his

Sabo gives little gifts and trinkets to him, and always shows off the ones he gets from him. Sabo is constantly talking or bragging about him, and always blushes whenever it’s reversed

NSFW

Sabo is pretty shy when it comes to sex/sex related things, he likes it to be private

however, he’s a sucker for his boyfriend, so if he wants to get touchy in public, Sabo won’t exactly stop him- neck kisses and groping are things Sabo loves, giving and recieving

at least with pda being a normal with the two of them, when Sabo is needy and wraps his arms around his boyfriend’s waitst to pull him against him specifically holding his ass against his front, it’s not deemed suspicious by anyone

as for hikeys, he doesn’t really like to be seen with them, but he loves seeing his boyfriend adorning them and he loves seeing him wear them proudly

Sabo likes keeping his hand on his lover’s thigh, sliding it closer and closer to a certain part and feeling his boyfriend shiver and harden under his touch

he makes subtle suggestive comments, flying under the radar so that only him and his boyfriend understand, though sometimes his boyfriend gives it away on accident, or not, and Sabo turns red

SFW

Luffy is not shy whatsoever, constantly clinging to his boyfriend and with his grin growing even wider when he hugs Luffy tighter against him

numerous kisses and hugs and touches throughout the day, not a second he’s not holding on to his lover. piggy back rides and shoulder rides are a given, and having his partner cling onto him like a koala leaves Luffy grinning for the rest of the day

Luffy is overall jsut himself, not really changing anything except he’s a bit more lovey-dovey and sentimental, he puts his hat on him a lot and is often in extremely close proximity, never once leaving his side- and Luffy feels secure and safe when his boyfriend returns the action

during fights Luffy loves to tell everyone who he’s dating, yelling things like “I’m dating him!” “Go ______! I love you!!”

ah that’s another thing, constantly saying “I love you”, every greeting and goodbye and moments in between is littered with the words, always accompanied by a rather sloppy kiss

Luffy doesn’t care who’s watching, he’s just as open as his boyfriend- 10x more actually

one thing he does like though, that not many people would think about, is purely having someone waiting for him, staying at his side and embracing him anytime. Luffy has had his fair share of losses, he doesn’t show it but deep down he’s riddled with guilt and pain and sadness and fear, he doesn’t want to lose another person. holding his lover after a battle, after a nightmare, makes him feel better because he knows he’s still there with Luffy. being able to run to him and let down his captain facade and just cry into his partner is something that Luffy desperately needs and loves

NSFW

Luffy is shameless, the most shameless op character, there is nothing he won’t do in front of the crew, yeah I’m implying public sex- deal with it

Luffy will walk right up to him and start a heated makeout session, ignoring any protests from the crew- he will fuck him right then and there, annd also wouldn’t mind being taken right then and there- or probably at least moving to a different part of the deck because he knows that his crew would be very uncomfrtable at that, it’s not embarrassing to do it he just cares about his crew’s feelings too

but on the back deck, against the walls, in the crowsnest, all free territory- Luffys even done it with him on the ladder up to the crows nest, those rubber arms are very useful

speaking of rubber arms, he has like his own version of bondage, purely cosisting of his arms and legs and hands, wrapping his arms around his boyfriends arms so he can hold them behind his while Luffy fucks him doggy style

Luffy is also definitely a switch, down for any position too, serioulsy those rubber powers are no joke, he can do any position, though he does prefer close contact ones where the two of them can hold each other

Luffy is KINKY- yes I said he is kinky! he doesn’t know what a kink is nor that he one (many) he just thinks it’s something he likes. but, no talks of another person, no pain to either unless it’s spanking, no blood, no degradation unless his boyfriend asks for it (he’s not very good at it though)

Luffy is loud, he loves that his lover is loud too, and is fine wwith him leaving hickeys or scratch marks- because Luffy is totally fine adorning those himself

SFW

Law is not very open about his relationship, I mean he’s completely fine telling his crew and the strawhats and the kid pirates, the crews he knows, but telling anyone else wworries him because he doesn’t really want him to be a known associate because people would come after him to get to Law

he would prefer if his boyfriend kept their reltionship details private, he doesn’t want to be embarrassed by any stories he has of him, and he likes to be very private man overall, he would actually get quite irritated f his lover is very open about what happens in their reltionshp- again Law has no problem about allies or somewhat allies knowing, everyone could know iabout the relationship to be honest, if they wouldn’t all go after his boyfriend because of the connection

Law does secretly love how “okay” he is being in a reltionship with him, dating such a broken and “evil” man. Law is actually very insecure, hiding it well though, and he loves that he has someone to show him the love he rarely ever felt when he was younger, having someone tell him he’s sweet and charming and kind and loveable hit Law right in his heart

that last paragraph of Luffy’s sfw kind of sums up Law’s take on his boyfriend’s open-ness

Law is touch starved, on the ship or in private on an island, with no or barely any people around, he’ll hold his hand and/or have an arm around his wait or shoulder, and he doesn’t mind if his lover does the same. in public if his boyfriend were to initiate any physical affection, Law would try to get him to tone it down, keep it minimal, but he doesn’t want to be rude either so he would go along with it to some extent

in private though he’s touchy and he really wwants to be praised, he also praises his boyfriend a lot because he is just so whipped for him, often thanking him for loving someone like Law, being there for him and offering a safe haven that he rarely has the chance to have- if ever

NSFW

again, Law is a private man, he doesn’t want to make his crew. too uncomfortable, but if his boyfriend were to start something or Law is feeling especially needy, he wouldn’t hesitate to tell the crew to leave the room or simply gare at them

he likes flustering his boyfriend, seeing someone who is usually so shameless, blush and stutter and get shy, is one of Law’s favorite things

he’s a major tease, similar to Ace with his dirty talk, except the deepness of his voice makes it sound 100x dirtier. one can’t fluster him by whispering dirty talk, his lover just can’t, he can make him hard but flustered is a no go. however, saying something dirty/suggestive out loud infront of people, that would do something- most likely resulting in either a scolding, punishment sex, or both

grind on him and he’ll growl, on certain occasions he has no problem throwig you over his shoulder and. taking you away from the public eye, but don’t try to do the same to him- Law is the dominant one in public and 8/10 of the time during sex

he’s not opposed to being the bottom, but he prefers to top

he lovex that his boyfriend is completely fine with him leaving hickeys and scratches and. just marks in general, it shows he’s taken and makes Law feel proud- Law however likes his marks to be hidden

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lawslessons · 3 years

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Hi there may I request C for the soulmate Alphabet between Sabo and the reader, please? Thank you very much! Stay awesome!

Yes you may, my dear! I hope you enjoy this! I had a blast writing this and I think I may have gotten a little carried away. Oops!

Warnings: None

Synopsis: Stars have their matching pairs, why can’t they? Distraught by his own overthinking, Sabo ventures out into the night and discovers a sight, a person, a being that captivates him. A life devoid of color, they seemed to be the only bright spot for him, but would that brightness fizzle out?

“Is the world supposed to be like this?” Sabo asked as he looked out at the sky while his closest friend, Koala laid next to him on the ground. Koala glanced over at him and sighed, she knew what he was going on about again, this seemed to be something that was really common among them as of late. The older they got, the more concerned Sabo became with soulmates and the possibility of finding his own.

“Colorless? I don’t know, how do you know that it doesn’t really have any color? I can’t imagine what colors look like… it must be wonderful,” Koala sighed as he looked over at her best friend and pouted at him some more. “You’re too obsessed with this! You’re only twenty two, you don’t need to be that obsessed with this already,” Koala stated as she went to sit up and moved to lead the way back inside of hideout. “We have plenty of time, how many times have I had to tell you this?” she asked.

“I mean, it’s because I am twenty two, what if I never find my person?” Sabo asked with a deep frown on his face, he disregarded what Koala said and it frustrated her. Koala offered him a sympathetic look but didn’t know what else to say, so for now she remained silent and went inside with him. The entire night Sabo was restless and unsure about his situation, he wasn’t able to sleep and soon gave up on that. Instead of pacing around his room like he did most nights, he deviated from his routine and left the hideout to be out in the night air. He wasn’t wearing his hat or any of his formal attire, he looked relaxed and at peace. He left the hideout and ventured a little further out until he was standing next to a tall rock. Strange, it felt out of place but he didn’t question it and instead felt himself drawn to it. He climbed up the rock and went to look at the sky some more. The stars mocked him, twinkling and dancing on their eternal ballroom. Sabo envied them, he wanted someone to have that same feeling with one day, was he just really unlucky? As he let out a sigh, he heard another one right behind him.

“It feels lonely out here,” A voice whispered in the night air. Sabo tensed and felt for his pipe, but he realized too late that he didn’t have that to defend himself. While he had his devil fruit abilities, he wanted to avoid using them for now since he wasn’t as experienced with it just yet. “The wind is cold no matter what season it is… everyone seems to have someone to be with except me,” they softly said as they continued to stare up at the vast expanse of stars. Sabo didn’t look behind him, he didn’t want to aggravate anyone and for sure didn’t want to get in a fight now. Besides, the more the other person talked, the more he began to sympathize with them.

“I hate the stars,” Sabo suddenly said, “Do you always feel like they — “

“Come in pairs? I do, I know they do,” They softly said as they reached their hand up and tried to touch one of the stars, it was impossible. “I wish I could dance again,” They whispered. Sabo frowned and tightened his grip on his pants, what did they mean by dancing?

“Dance?” He decided to ask.

“The stars dance together, that’s what my mother told me. When the stars for older, they would be able to go out and dance with the other stars until they found their matching star, the one that made their flame burn bright, made them see the rest of the universe,” they shared. “When I asked her what she meant, she would just smile and say these strange things. Purple, pink, red, yellow… I don’t know what that means,” They said as they pulled their hand back down and hugged themselves. Sabo felt something tense inside of his chest, he found it rather ironic that the thing he compared the stars with seemed to be the thing the other person imagined. The sun began to rise, and Sabo heard his new companion’s voice hitch. “I need to go,” they suddenly said.

“Wait, why?” Sabo asked, and just as he turned around, he found that they were gone. All that he saw that was left was a trail of glittering, fine white dust which slowly dissipated into the air. He watched the dust leave in amazement, as the moment the sun rose, the dust seemed to vanish as well. Even more perplexed, Sabo ventured back inside and got ready for the day and continued with his training. When it was the afternoon, he went to spend some time with Koala and talk to her about what he saw, or well heard the night before.

“What?” Koala said in disbelief as she sipped her tea, she didn’t seem to be enjoying the beverage, but drinking it now seemed only appropriate.

“That person disappeared into dust, you know I wouldn’t lie to you about this,” Sabo pointed out.

“I know that, that’s why I’m confused because I don’t know what any of this means,” Koala frowned. “Oh! Maybe you need to see that person again! Do you think they’ll show up again tonight?” She asked.

“Tonight? I’m not sure, but I suppose there’s no harm in looking,” Sabo sighed. With that, the day rolled into night and soon Sabo was rolling out of bed to see if he could find out more clues about his mysterious new friend. He haphazardly fixed his hair and grabbed his pipe this time before he ran out of the base. He went to the same rock and sat down where he was the night before. He softly panted and tried to catch his breath as he looked around the expanse of the grounds and waited for the stranger to appear.

“Hello,” He heard whispered in his ear, he gasped and quickly tensed and tried to look back, but when he did, no one was there. “You’re making my nights less lonely,” they confessed, Sabo turned around again but he wasn’t able to figure out who was talking to him and it was slowly frustrating him.

“Who are you?” He decided to ask, but he was met with silence.

“You wouldn’t believe me,” They said after a minute. Sabo didn’t look behind him this time, instead he just sighed and shook his head and tried to understand why he wouldn’t believe them. Maybe they were hiding themselves for a reason, Sabo just had to trust them. “Stars are the most beautiful creatures in the world, they are often seen as being vain and narcissistic but that’s far from the truth. Most stars are sad,” They shared. That peaked Sabo’s interest, why did this person know so much about stars?

“Why are they sad?”

“They’re alone for most of their lives, you either have to wait millions of years to settle with a star you may be unhappy with, or some take a risk,” They shared. When Sabo turned around again, he managed to catch a glimpse of something captivating. Tears flowed like mini stars and onto the rock. He could only see their back but he was instantly captivated. “Some take the risk and try to find their star on earth and become a fallen star, they’re never able to come back home. It’s a risk most don’t take but…” Sabo watched as a hand moved to wipe away the tears and he could feel them smiling without even seeing them. “What seems worse? Settling for someone you don’t truly love or not being able to go back home because of love?” They asked him.

“I don’t have a home to return to,” Sabo shared as he looked down at the rock. Where the tears landed, small imprints of stars engraved the material. “But settling for someone I don’t really love seems even worse. Especially when I won’t ever be able to see the colors because of that,” Sabo shared. They looked down at their shoulder, they seemed tempted to look back at Sabo but refrained for now.

“Colors? What’re those?” They asked. Sabo’s eyes widened and a small smile came onto his face. Without realizing it, he began to go into depth about what he heard about colors and what they were all supposed to mean. Sabo was animated and excited as he shared his theories on what colors were and they listened, equally as fascinated as he was. When was sun was rising again, they tensed and looked over at the large star.

“It’s time for me to go,” They quickly said.

“Will I see you again tonight?” Sabo asked.

They softly smiled and looked at the emerging sun, “Always…”

A new pattern began to form as the weeks passed. Sabo would sleep for a few hours before he would venture out to the rock to talk about colors and the stars with his new friend. They began to grow closer and soon they were all Sabo was able to think about. Their soft laugh, their warm presence, the fantastical dust they left behind when they had to leave when the sun rose.

“Why do you leave every morning?” Sabo decided to ask again after a few weeks. They sighed and looked up at the night sky, they seemed hesitant to begin talking. Sabo was about to take back what he said but, he was surprised to hear them talking instead.

“The sun doesn’t like me,” They mumbled. “I made a deal with the sun to be here, and until I finish what I am set out to do, I can’t be in the sun,” They softly shared. That only confused Sabo, the male frowned and tried to wrap his head around what they were saying before it just clicked.

“You’re a star?” He asked, he wanted to be wrong, he wanted to think that all of their knowledge on stars was just myth and that none of this was real, the gravitational pull he felt towards them couldn’t be real, right? This didn’t mean they had to be a star, right? None of this made sense to the poor man and soon he began to feel overwhelmed by all this strange information.

“I am,” they finally admitted. “A fallen star,” They shared, that had Sabo’s full attention. “My deal with the sun was dark and frankly, unforgiving. Until I fall in love and find my soulmate, I won’t be able to have my face seen and I can’t be in the sun. And if I can’t find him, then I’ll be forced to burn out and be eaten by the sun,” They said as they moved to hug their knees close to their chest. Sabo was confused and unsure about how to process this information. He was shocked and devastated at the same time, how could something be so cruel to someone as innocent as them?

“So you came here from the stars to find love? You can never go back?” Sabo asked them.

“Yes,” They said as they looked up again, Sabo watched as they began to cry again and something painfully tightened in his chest as he watched.

“Did you find that love?”

“Yes.” There was no hesitation, the tears seemed to flow more freely and within a second, they looked back over at Sabo for the first time. Sabo’s bright eyes were met by eyes that rivaled the stars. They were glimmering and sad, radiant and shining, words were failing Sabo as he took in the pitiful sight. But as he stared, his vision started to morph into beautiful purples and blues. Their eyes reflected every color and he wad captivated by who he was looking at. The features of their face became more prominent and he found himself reaching out to feel if what he was seeing was real. They were so bright and beautiful that it terrified him, was this person really meant for him? Was this what color was supposed to feel like? Look like?

“You… You’re the one for me, aren’t you?” This seemed too good to be true, Sabo was hesitant and pulled back. He was more overwhelmed, all these colors, this intense feeling in his chest, all he could compare it to was death.

“My star…” They breathed out as they looked up into Sabo’s dazed eyes and found themself being pulled in closer. Sabo looked down at them and decided to take a chance for himself now. Maybe this chance encounter was for a reason, maybe fear was actually good for them.

“Your star…” Sabo breathed out before he leaned in softly kissed them. Their heartbeats both started to slow down until they moved in unison. They both closed their eyes in the slow, gentle kiss and savored the ethereal moment. When Sabo pulled away, they were both dazed and smiling at one another. Their hearts started to dance with one another and they both were lost in each other’s eyes as the sun slowly began to rise. They both felt as if they were dancing with one another on the ballroom in the sky, their hands were intermingled and the sight in front of the two of them seemed celestial. They looked over at the sun, and away from Sabo after a moment and warmly smiled, they felt like the sun was giving them its blessing and for the first time, they were able to feel the warmth of the morning on their hands. Maybe the sun wasn’t so cruel, they thought.

Red, orange and yellow, the hint of pink in the sunrise and on their cheeks was something he would remember forever.

And maybe the stars weren’t so mocking, maybe they were compassionate enough to bless him with his own star to cherish.

Purples, blues and indigo, the fading colors drifted under the horizon to sleep for another night. And in their sleepy gaze, Sabo found himself falling even harder for them.

“My star…” They both said with love struck smiles on their faces, they instantly knew that this connection was raw and real, it wasn’t lonely anymore. They could finally dance together in the colors of the sky.

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yukipri · 4 years

Text

Marco’s Bauble Part 2 - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Ended up writing a continuation of the first Marco’s bauble post, thank you so much to everyone who commented and inspired me to write more ^ ^

This was posted on my Patreon earlier this week!

Follow up to On Thatch, Marco, & the Whitebeards - Marco’s Bauble #1 , please read this one first ^ ^

Contains Koala x Luffy, Thatch x Luffy, and Marco x Luffy with bg Ace & Sabo, wow is that a combination of ships I never expected to see, but whelp here we are....

It's during one of Koala's Fishman Karate sessions when That Thing falls out of Luffy's pocket.

At first, Koala thinks she must have imagined it, because why would Luffy have one of those.

But then Luffy drops the stance she's been struggling to hold, concentration shattered, and pounces on the little thing that's trying to roll away from her on the deck.

"Ah, my Mystery Rock!" the mermaid cries, reaffirming that no, Koala didn't imagine it.

Koala stares with dawning horror as Luffy scoops the thing up, rolling the shiny blue bauble between her palms to make sure it hasn't been damaged. She's moving to stick it back into her inner vest pocket when Koala stops her.

"Luffy...where did you get that?"

"Oh this?" Luffy's eyes light up, and she shoves the thing right up and personal in Koala's face.

Koala can see it clearly, the aquamarine glass with shards of multi-faceted crystal and gold flakes embedded in it, with a small, dark core made up of none other than seastone. It's unmistakable.

"Thatch gave it to me!" Luffy continues, and Koala's already moving, spinning on her heel towards the kitchen because she is going to throttle that damn cook--before Luffy adds, "It's not from him though! It's from his friend! The pineapple-bird man!"

Koala freezes, her fury towards Thatch dwindling, but she still feels her heart pounding louder than it should be. She has no idea what a pineapple-bird man is, but the point still stands: a man had given Luffy her "Mystery Rock."

"Luffy," she says, trying to keep her voice light, hoping it isn't cracking with the hysteria she feels inside. "Do you know what that is?"

"It has a sea rock inside!" Luffy says, proud that she's remembered what Ace told her. It's seastone, but close enough, Koala thinks. "It's got glass and stuff on the outside, so I can touch it without getting tired! But it still feels like the sea! It's my magical Mystery Rock!"

Koala nods and smiles, even though she feels her lips strain. "Anything else?"

Luffy blinks. She couldn't be more obvious about pulling a blank, for which Koala is immensely grateful.

Okay, okay. So. Luffy knows what the object is, but probably doesn't know what it means. Which means Koala can relax. For now.

She forces herself to take a deep breath. She shouldn't jump to any conclusions.

"It's a very nice Mystery Rock," Koala smiles sincerely, and it really really is.

Nicer than Luffy's likely aware of.

"How about we take a break for today. Do you want to go show Ace the basic water pulse you can do now?" Koala suggests, and Luffy beams with her whole face and Koala's blinded. It lasts only an instant before Luffy's stretching her arms to grab a rail, slingshotting herself away in the blink of an eye, leaving Koala feeling like a cloud just passed over the sun.

Koala heaves a huge sigh. She's never been more grateful for the lack of Sabo's presence during Fishman Karate sessions, because if Sabo had seen Luffy's "Mystery Rock," and if he had asked Koala to explain its significance...well.

Things would not be pretty.

And despite how objectively beautiful the bauble is, things are already very Not Pretty inside Koala now. She has some words for Thatch's friend.

Thatch's surprised when Koala of all people enters the kitchen (Lil Lesbian No. 2, he'd secretly nicknamed her). He'd just kicked Sanji out with the trays of desserts and beverages they'd made, telling the younger man to go enjoy the sun while Thatch finishes cleaning up and starts prepping for dinner.

Thatch honestly wishes he could be the one to present the sweets to Luffy, but he's also mature enough to let this opportunity go to Sanji. The boy'd practically been twitching with excitement while adding the last loving touches to the parfaits.

It's fine, Thatch is an adult. And by staying in the kitchen, Thatch also gets to prepare and therefore present the enormous steak that'll be part of dinner (and which is Luffy honestly going to be more excited for, a parfait or sea king steak?).

Either way, Thatch's just about finished, and checks his dials one last time before turning to give his visitor his undivided attention.

"So, did the parfaits interrupt your time monopolizing my future fiancee, or...?"

Lil Lesbian No. 2 smiles sweetly, or rather bares her teeth, and doesn't return Thatch's greeting. Rude.

"Thatch, who gave Luffy the seastone trinket?" she demands without prelude. And huh, so that's what they're going to talk about. Thatch blinks. No, he hasn't forgotten about it, and yes, he's still bitter, but he's also a bit alarmed by Koala's intensity. It's just a nice gift...right?

"One of my crew mates," he says cautiously, not seeing any reason to lie. "My friend. Marco."

"Marco the Phoenix, First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates," Koala mumbles, and Thatch can see her pulling up all the mental files she has on him. Thatch has learned that the young revolutionary has a terrifying mental database of pretty much anyone who's made a name for themselves in any way, and reminds himself to never take his teasing too far, because he does not want to make an enemy of her.

Her blackmail-compiling finished, Koala smiles thinly. "So Thatch, do you know what that bauble is?"

Thatch feels like he's being tested, and whatever he says is going to be wrong. "It's a fancy thing you can buy at Fishman island? Costs a small fortune? The mer ladies always seem super happy get them as gifts? I'm not sure what you're asking here," he shrugs helplessly under her glare. He really doesn't know anything else. Fishman island may be Pops' territory, but he's certainly no expert on their culture beyond studying their cuisine.

"And your friend, does he think the same?"

"I don't know what that bird-brain thinks! If you're going to kill him, go after him, not me," Thatch groans. "Are you going to actually tell me what's wrong, or...?"

Koala seems to debate about something, and Thatch hears Sabo muttered under her breath. She then starts to chuckle, and it's a dark, unpleasant sound. Thatch is more than a little concerned.

"Oh the mer ladies like receiving them alright," she mutters.

She takes a deep breath, like she's hyping herself up for something, and now Thatch is tense too.

"Does your friend know," she says, voice so painfully sweet it's gone bitter, "that he's given Luffy the human equivalent of an engagement ring?"

Thatch stops breathing.

A beat, then,

"THAT BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!"

Ace pops his head into the kitchen. "Anything wrong?"

"NOTHING!" Koala and Thatch scream in unison, and Ace jolts backwards in alarm.

"Alright...then. I'll...be back later?" Ace blinks like a puppy confused as to why he'd just been kicked, but he still shuffles back outside, politely closing the door behind him.

Thatch feels pretty awful about making his little brother slink out of his own ship's kitchen, but holy shit does he not want Ace to hear this right now.

Luffy with an engagement ring.

Ace'd explode, then Merry would burn, and then everyone would drown and that's a very sad ending to their short-lived adventure.

"The fuck," he hisses to Koala, just in case Ace is still lurking outside.

"That's what I want to say to your First Division Commander!" she spits back, and alright, fine, maybe she has every right to be upset. "Who does he think he is, giving Luffy something like that? I haven't even asked her out yet!"

Thatch isn't sure that last part is entirely necessary, and mumbles, "My future fiancee," but Koala steamrolls right over him.

"Did he do it intentionally, or is he just an ignorant human like you?"

Thatch wisely keeps his You're human too comment to himself. "Again, I'm not him, I don't know!"

Thatch thinks Marco doesn't know the weight of the gift he's sent. At least, he hopes so. No one on the Moby Dick believes Thatch because they think Marco's always a stuffy mother hen, but Thatch knows Marco can play some pretty nasty pranks when he wants to. But Marco wouldn't pull something like this, it doesn't feel in character for him. He can be a pain in Thatch's ass, but he wouldn't drag in Ace's little brother who he hasn't even met yet. But then again, it also feels weird for Marco to not have looked up the significance of something he spent his own money on. It's all very strange and confusing.

Even so, Thatch is with Koala this time, and is totally okay throwing his older brother under the ship so to speak, because the bastard hasn't even met Luffy, and there's no way he'll support this "engagement," or whatever the hell this is.

"You know," Koala says, far too pleasantly for the mood. "Sabo's going to kill him when he finds out."

Thatch shrugs, he has no intention of helping his friend. "Eh, Marco can handle it, he's strong."

"No, you don't understand," Koala insists, and oh there's that sadism back in her expression. "Ever heard of the Fort Gray incident? That was all Sabo. And Sabo's going to murder your friend."

Thatch has heard of that, few on the Grand Line haven't. And...oh. Maybe Chief of Staff is actually a pretty terrifying title after all. "Marco's fine, he's strong?" he repeats, a little less confident.

Koala snorts, and spitefully grabs a handful of the caramelized pecans on the countertop and shovels them in her face as Thatch squawks protest. He was going to use those!

"I can't wait till Ace hears, because then there'll be two of them," she cronches as Thatch sadly rummages in the cabinets for more pecans. "So now the question is, do we warn your friend or not?"

Thatch isn't feeling particularly charitable, but he also feels betrayed and wants to know what Marco was thinking. The next time one of those damn birds comes, he thinks. He has some questions to ask the Phoenix.

The incident refers to the mission in Sabo's flashback in the anime expanded content at the end of Dressrosa. I dun think it actually had a name/location (could be wrong), so made it up and yes my naming sense is creative I know LMAO.

The beginning might feel choppy bc there was a big Koala x Lu part at the beginning that I chopped off bc it felt too irrelevant to the topic. Might clean that up for a separate post tho ^ ^;

As always, comments/reblogs/tags always immensely appreciated! <3

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: Marco’s Bauble, Part 3

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

#OnePieceMermaidAU #One Piece Mermaid AU #MarLu #ThatchLu #Marco the Phoenix #Monkey D. Luffy #Thatch #Koala #KoaLu #genderbend #text headcanons #longpost #long post #yeah i'm tired and didn't have time to write a new post tonight ^ ^;#but yeah anyway here i am with a handful of ships that no one has every heard of before AHAHAHHAA

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opbackgrounds · 4 years

Note

Hi there Sarc' ;) I am sorry if the question has already been asked but I thought it could be interesting to have your opinion about this. While I love most of the female characters in OP and think that most of them are well developed and can be truly good role models for girls I still feel that Oda sometimes has a sexist view on female characters (the jokes about the naked bath scenes for example or Kororo being considered ugly make me really uncomfortable). What do you think about it?

Ah, I wondered when I would get this question.

When people talk about sexism in One Piece they typically are referring to two different things: How women are drawn, and how they’re treated within the narrative. While there’s some overlap here, there’s enough distinction that I want to address them as two separate points in two separate posts, because I guess I had Opinions, and by god there should be a limit to how much text one tumblr post can be expected to hold. Consider this an introduction.

Buckle up, kiddos. This is gonna be a long one.

Nami Face Syndrome Isn’t the Problem...

An important thing to remember with Oda’s art and storytelling style is that almost everything is hyper exaggerated for effect. You don’t go into One Piece looking for realism. You don’t go into One Piece expecting the characters to act like normal people. Everything--from the art to the humor to the battles--is stretched and pulled to its absolute limit in hopes of garnering a particular reaction. When a character is sad they cry big bubbly tears with dribbles of snot coming from their nose. When they laugh their mouths take up half their face.

And when a girl is hot, her tiddies are two great big watermelons stuck to the center of her chest.

What is often dubbed “Nami Face Syndrome” within the fandom is somewhat misleading. After all, why was Wanda, who is a literal dog that walks on two legs, decried as yet another Nami clone at her introduction? I would postulate it’s less to do with her face and more to do with the fact that from the neck down they are virtually identical, something that’s made more obvious because Wanda is literally wearing Nami’s clothes

What makes this frustrating for a lot of people, myself included, is that it’s not that Oda is incapable of drawing more diverse body types, but that he often chooses not to. Take for example the Kuja tribe

or the Charlotte family daughters (thanks to Arthur at Library of Ohara for the resource). It’s pretty clear Oda has the chops to make his women as weird as the men, and he often does! For important characters, even. And yes, as the Kokoro example given above sometimes the gonkness is brought attention to, but for others like Lola and Chiffon it’s...not.

(more on mermaids later)

But Sarcasticles, one might protest, even Oda’s “ugly” characters have ginormous boobs! Where is my itty bitty titty committee representation >:(

To which I can only shrug. For Oda, boobs on a woman are like abs on men. It doesn’t matter if it makes sense, they’re gonna have ‘em

Seriously, Oda. What the fuck.

...So What Is?

I have a theory that’s impossible to prove, and that the problem isn’t so much Oda’s character design so much as the ratio of his male to female characters in general. It’s not that every female character is a Nami clone, but Oda has a template he uses for attractive female characters ages 16-25, the same way he uses Robin as a template for attractive women ages 26-35, which is how you get cases of mistaken identity like Viola for Robin or scenes during Reverie where one could be forgiven for thinking Nami’s supposed to be an identical triplet

Oda does this for his men, too. It’s not as obvious because 1) Even men with similar facial features can have a wider variety body types due to Oda having a sliding scale of buffness he’s willing to attach to a pretty face and 2) There are more men.

There are a lot more men.

In groups where the male to female ratio is more or less equal (Baroque Works, Big Mom’s kids) you get a wide variety of designs. But there’s only one female Supernova. There’s one female Warlord. CP9 only has one female agent. Only one of the Revolutionary Commanders is a woman. There are very few female background characters in crowd shots, especially among marines. Big Mom might be the only female Emperor, but she’s not young, In fact, when drawing her at age 28, Oda defaults to a much more generic “pretty girl” face before giving her much more striking, memorable features in her 40s

If you look at Oda’s male characters, the ones that are supposed to be hot are often given the same square jawline and the thin-bladed nose that at one point in time was reserved for Robin. Both Coby and Sabo had very distinctive noses before their glowups, while Ace must have had a laser treatment done on his eyebrows sometime between Alabasta and Marineford.

But the biggest difference on the men has got to be muscle mass. The overgrown noodles of early One Piece are lost to the annals of time. Shanks alone must have gained 30 pounds of pure muscle from the time Luffy got his first bounty to his appearance at Marineford.

Now, I will acknowledge that there is a difference between the increasing sexualization of female characters and the male power fantasy of giving Zoro bara tiddies post-timeskip. While I do think there are certain male characters specifically designed to be the Hot Dude, what I’m trying to emphasize here is that Oda works with templates for both men and women, and both of those templates have been exaggerated over time. Bigger boobs for women, more muscles for men. And when you’re only slotting for one girl in any given group, and that one girl has to be The Hot One then you’re going to have a lot of ladies that end up looking the same.

My love for Otohime on this blog is well known, and I want to use her as an example of what Oda can do when he works beyond this template, because it’s really freaking good

Otohime is neither conventionally attractive nor gonk. She’s dressed in very conservative, traditional clothing and has a narrow waist and small chest.

There are no sharp edges on Otohime. Not her eyebrows, not her jaw, and most of the time not even her hands, emphasizing her gentle nature. You don’t see it as well in this panel, but Otohime’s head is often drawn wider than her shoulders, emphasizing her frailty. Oda gives her a longer neck to compensate, and the overall effect is a very soft, willowy figure.

Her headpiece looks like a sunburst. The audience never sees her fins, so Oda gives her a scale patterned kimono-dress-thingy (my knowledge of Japanese clothing is, uh, not good) as a visual reminder that she’s not human. The sash that circles around her head harkens back to Japanese mythology as a symbol of divinity, similar to a halo in Western culture. And fun fact: Otohime is named after a god, just like Neptune, while her goals and ideals are pure enough to be heaven-sent.

I’m not an artist, but this is a really damn good character design. A lot of Oda’s older female characters are. Dandan, Tsuru, O-Tsuru, Shakky, Kureha, Big Mom, and Nyon are all instantly recognizable and have strong designs, even if a few of them fall into the hourglass figure that Oda often defaults to. It’s just...there aren’t that many of them.

So the question becomes why aren’t there more women, and I think the answer is because, ultimately, One Piece is a series geared at boys. While I wish there were a few more important ladies, I can understand why there aren’t.

Note, that doesn’t mean I think it’s right or that Oda is obligated to include more women. It’s just one of the facts of the shonen manga industry at this point in time.

A more important question, I think, is why does every younger woman have to be attractive? And why do the attractive ladies have to wear outfits that are blatant fanservice? This is something I don’t have an answer for. Oda has said on more than one occasion that he writes One Piece with his twelve year old self in mind. It could be that it’s a calculated move to appeal to his audience, in which case it’s certainly worked because said Hot Ladies are constantly used in marketing and merchandising. It’s the Hot Ladies that top the popularity charts (although, to be fair, who’s there for competition?). In the most recent chapter a new Hot Lady was introduced, and the fandom went batshit crazy for her.

Even the fans who are very vocal about how Oda sucks at drawing women. It’s interesting how that works out sometimes.

Or maybe I’m giving Oda too much credit, and he’s just horny. Not having direct access to Oda’s mind, I don’t have an answer. If I had to guess I’d say it’s a little of Column A, a little of Column B, because that’s usually how life is.

But in a vacuum big tiddies are just a design choice. An exaggerated aesthetic, in a series full of exaggerated aesthetics. It’s when that design choice is paired with in-story comments, actions, and decisions where things really start to get heated. But that’s a whole other ball of wax, and there should be a limit to how much one tumblr post can be expected to hold. I promise I’ll get to the meat of your question next time.

Thank you so much for your patience. I really do think it’s important to start here before diving into everything else, if only because it helps keep my thoughts organized. I hope you’ve found this helpful, and if not, I hope to do better next time.

#long post #dear lord what a long post #Character Design #one piece #I don't know why tumblr fucked up with the formatting of my answer #but I apologize in advance #sexism #sarc talks

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technicallyr43 · 3 years

Text

Just a Scene

So I made a prompt awhile ago about this, and this is the scene that just keeps rattling my brain. Enjoy?

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

The world went white. The heroes nearby paused in their struggle to recover as they viewed the blankness that enveloped them. Aizawa looked around frantically while some of class 2-A started helping the others up.

“W-what happened?” Kaminari asked, lifting up Iida.

“The force from All for One and Mic-sensei was so powerful, it must have caused all this,” Yaoyorozu theorized.

Uraraka looked around, “This is so unsettling.”

“Eraserhead-sensei?” Midoriya called, worried for their sensei who looked like he was panicking.

“I don’t see any people, except the ones who were close by to us,” Endeavor observed, “Would Present Mic or All for One even be here?”

The underground hero turned to respond, when suddenly the white world flashed and changed to a jungle. Everyone made a startled noise as they took in their surroundings, and turned when they heard the small voice coming up on them.

“Ace! Luffy!” yelled the young voice, “Where did you go?”

A young blonde boy ran past them, hair cut close to the scalp. He had wide blue eyes and wore a blue suit coat and a black top hat with square goggles attached to it. The kid huffed, annoyed while looking around the trees. He kicked at a rock.

“They’re always getting lost…”

“Hey, kid,” Midoriya started, “Could you answer some questions for us?”

While he asked that, the kid turned quickly, falling into a fighting stance before relaxing. He drank in the sight of them in their hero costumes, turning excited.

“You’re heroes!” He pointed out, smiling widely, “You’re Endeavour, you’re Hawks, and you’re Eraserhead!” He pointed at the respective heroes before stopping at Aizawa, “You’re my favorite!”

“Yeah,” started Hawks, “We’re heroes. Do you mind telling us where we are? And who you are?”

The kid blinked up at them before answering, “This is Goa Island. It's where me and my brothers live. I’m Sabo!”

“Well, hello Sabo,” greets Midoriya, “I’m Deku! I bet you and your brothers have awesome quirks. Can you tell us about them?”

“Quirks?” Sabo looks uncomprehendingly to them, “Ace is made of fire...and Luffy is rubber. And me, I guess I don’t have a quirk.”

Midoriya looks stricken, “You-you don’t have one? Well, that’s ok, I guess your brother can protect you.”

Sabo looks at him disapprovingly, “I don’t need them to protect me! Sure Ace is older by a couple months, but Luffy is way younger than me! How can my baby brother protect me?”

“But if you’re quirkless, things are a lot more dangerous for you,” Sero said, “You’ve gotta be careful.”

“No I don’t!” Sabo’s face scrunched up, “Before quirks, everyone was quirkless! They had to do things as normal people!

“Even now, I don’t need my brothers to protect me! We all have our own dreams, and we can use our own powers to get there! Ace want to surpass his father, and be strong! Luffy wants to be King of the Pirates, and me- well I want to be free! I want to live my life with my brothers and everyone I love, free from everyone who doesn’t want us together.

And it doesn’t matter if I don’t have a quirk or power,” Sabo used this moment to put his hands on his waist, looking right at the group, “I don’t need a quirk to be strong, to fight for what I think is right! I don’t need one to be free! All I need is my bond with my brothers, and the strength I can get from training enough!”

The scene around them flashed and the forest was gone. Now, a wasteland surrounded the group, startling them as they took in the view.

“And even when I didn’t remember,” said an older voice, still young, “My dream didn’t change. I still wanted to be free, to fight for what’s right. I still wanted to do good for those who couldn't have it.”

Everyone quickly turned to look at an older Sabo. He was wearing the same style of clothes, but his hair was a bit longer, coming in blonde waves framing his face, eyes still wide. Except now, there’s a large burn scar on the left side of his face, over his eye, peeking from below his shirt. He more world weary, still smiling, but dimmer.

“I couldn’t remember who I was, or who I left behind, but I knew that I wanted the world free. Free from oppression, where those with power would enslave everyone. Free from judgement, where the sins of the father didn’t carry over to the child. I didn’t remember why, but that was important.

“And I didn’t need a quirk for it. I fought for my and my friends' right to live with power that I trained from nothing. A quirk is just a tool, something you add onto a power that was given. It doesn’t matter how you were born, where, or if you were born with power. Anyone could become strong.”

A flash again and the world changed, now a war-torn battleground, with walls stacked high and an execution stand in front of a building toting the word “MARINES”. Bloody swords and smoking guns lay on the ground, but no bodies.

“And even when I took power,” started the same voice, older, “I did so, not to be stronger, but as a reminder of what I lost.”

A taller, older Sabo stands before them now. His gaze is sad, but brighter, like what weighed down on him before was less than before.

“I only took my brother’s power because he wasn’t there, because by the time I remembered, it was too late.”

Flames erupted from his shoulder, and two figures appeared by his shoulders. They were blurred out, but a straw hat on the shorter figure and an orange cowboy hat on the taller were distinctive.

“My older brother died, leaving me and my baby brother behind. He wasn’t alive to watch Luffy live out his dream, but at least I could take on his will to carry with us to the end. And that power helped in my achievements, helped in our war for freedom. But it wasn’t something we needed.

“Because quirks are tools, and they’re just an ends to a means. Isn’t that what you taught me, my love?” Sabo looks at Eraserhead, smile soft and eyes full of love. Everyone freezes at that, and Aizawa looks ready to protest. Sabo stops it with his continued speech.

“I don’t need a quirk, or a power to live my dream. I don’t need it to protect my brother, or my friends, or the rest of my family. The bonds I made with them, the people that I love are so great, that I’ll never forget them. The bonds with my brothers that I felt when I didn’t remember are tremendous, that I wholeheartedly believe that I can find them again, no matter what lives we lead. Because bonds like these-”

The world flashes and it changes to UA, to the front of the school. But the heroes don’t notice. They’re attention is on Sabo, as he melts away and is replaced by Yamada Hizashi, the hero they were here to save, dressed in civilian gear. Yellow sweater and jeans, hair down and messy.

“They traverse time, Shouta!” Hizashi continues, smiling wide and eyes bright, “Lives, even dimensions! For the longest time, I thought this hole in my chest was because of some family I missed, even though they abandoned me when I was born. And that you and how much I love you was enough to fill the void. That our kids were too! But now I remember! I remember that what I was missing isn’t a family that abandoned me, but one that I made from a life before. And isn’t that amazing!”

Hizashi laughs as he gestures widely with his arms, “Imagine that, all this time and my heart was filled with love for my family, my friends, and my comrades. And I just didn’t remember. But now I do, and now that I’ve fought All for One with a power that technically shouldn’t exist right now, I’m going to need all hands on deck, so listen up, listeners!”

Silhouettes appear behind him, all shapes and sizes, indistinguishable to them, “I’ve used a lot of power, and went a little too hard. So I may be hurting right now. And because what I did was such a powerful shockwave, well I’m sure everyone else who’s like me is awake now too.”

Hizashi juts his hip out and rests his hand on it, pointing at the group, “I was a revolutionary, so I hung out with thieves, pirates, and thugs. They’re a little rough around the edges, so be on the lookout! Because this will attract the good, the bad, and the downright nasty. So buck up listeners!”

The voice hero grins at his husband, “We’re in for an adventure!”

The surroundings disappear and the heroes are back in a battle-torn city. They see other heroes, and civilians getting up, looking around to see if it’s safe to move. Aizawa jerks out of the group, “Zashi! Where are you!?”

That moves the rest of the group into action, racing to find their lost mentor and friend. They find All for One, dead under a crumbled building. A good 100 ft away, they find Aizawa clutching an injured Hizashi to him, calling for medics to come.

That was just the start.

#erasermic #eraserhead #yamada hizashi #present mic #aizawa shouta #one piece #my hero academia #boku no hero headcanons #au #crossover

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oriigami · 4 years

Text

we’re running against the wind

[Part two of my One Piece Wing AU, this time focusing on the Strawhats and their histories. Read it on AO3 here!] [Part One]

“I can’t fly,” Kuina told him, one warm and dusky night, sitting on the porch step and staring down at the grass. Arms wrapped around bony knees, bruised and grass-stained. “Did you know that?”

Zoro blinked, and sat down beside her, baffled for a moment. “What do you mean? Cause your wings haven’t grown out yet?”

She sighed, heavy and tired, and stretched one wing out at her side. It was simple, plain black, small for her age. “You know what a rail is?”

“A rail?”

“It’s a kind of bird. The kind I am. They live on the ground,” Kuina said, staring down at the grass between her scuffed shoes. “They don’t fly. They’re no good for it. Their wings are too small. Even if they try, they can never get too far off the ground.”

She shot him a sideways look, and halfheartedly tugged on one of his feathers. His wings were still growing, but already much larger than hers, big and brown, almost gold in the sunlight. Eagle wings. Wings meant to soar.

“You’re lucky, Zoro,” she said, looking up at him with a terribly sad half-smile on her face that he never, ever wanted to see again. “Someday, you’re going to fly.”

Zoro woke up with her voice still ringing in her head.

Consciousness hit him with an unpleasant jolt, and he had half a second to process the dusty courtyard- not Shimotsuki dojo- before a half-dozen different varieties of discomfort hit him all at once.

The hunger pains were practically screaming in the back of his mind, and he was parched from dehydration. He was half-numb from the ropes digging into his skin, cutting off blood circulation. He shifted, trying to prop himself up as best he could, and grit his teeth against the sharp, stabbing pain of blood starting to flow again.

As soon as he moved, his wings pulsed with pain, and he had to bite back a yell. They’d been lashed roughly to the pole at his back at an uncomfortable angle that had started as barely tolerable and progressed, over the course of the days, to maddening. The dusty ground all around him was scattered with fallen dusty gold feathers, both those that had been pulled loose by the ropes and those that had shed on their own as starvation had taken its toll.

It was fine, though. What was a few feathers lost? It wasn’t like he was going to die here. It wasn’t like he could.

He had a promise to keep, after all.

Arlong never clipped Nami’s wings. They were too useful for quick getaways. To him, they were just some of the features that made her such a valuable tool, such a clever, profitable little thief. So, no, he never damaged her wings.

But he loved to remind her that he could.

If she disobeyed, if she tried to run away- well, fishmen were so strong, and wings were so fragile. She learned to bear the fear, though she always kept her wings folded close and tight to her back whenever she walked through Arlong Park. If there was one thing she could be grateful for, at least, it was that he never thought to threaten to hurt Nojiko’s wings instead.

She could still hear the crunch of Bellemere’s wingbones when Arlong had stomped on them.

Fishmen didn’t have wings. It made sense- what sure would undersea creatures have for them? But she couldn’t help but suspect, every now and then, that Arlong was envious. He could rule their towns and beat them into the ground and proclaim himself and his brethren superior over humans in every way- but he would never, ever fly. That was something Nami would always hold over him.

Nami’s wings were simple at first glance- black, with splotches of bright white at the shoulders and tips- but under the sunlight, the black glittered, turning to dark iridescent bluish-green. They looked nothing like Bellemere’s wide, long-feathered osprey wings had.

“Would you cut it out?” she snapped, one wing stretching out to swat Luffy’s curious hands away from the straw hat resting in her lap.

She’d known him for more than a day now, but she still couldn’t really make up her mind on her temporary captain. He was annoying, but good-hearted, but stupid, but honest- and she’d never seen wings like his either. They were bright red and featherless, looking more bat than bird. Overall, he was a frustrating enigma, for how open he was.

Not that it mattered, really. She’d be parting ways with them soon enough.

“Are you done yet?” he asked insistently, leaning around her shoulder to peer at the mostly-repaired hat cradled in her hands. The wide, ugly knife cuts Buggy had left in the golden straw were mostly hidden now, though you could still see the scars if you knew to look- the replacement straw she’d had to use in places was brighter and cleaner than the worn, aged material of the rest of the hat.

She wondered idly just how old this stupid hat was. There were other repairs worked into the straw here and there, some more recent and some much older, hand-stitched with varying levels of neatness and expertise.

“Nearly,” she said, not for the first time. “Be patient.”

The sun caught on the mended straw, and all of a sudden she remembered a question she’d wanted to ask. “Hey, Luffy,” she said before his attention could drift. “What’s with this feather?”

She’d noticed it when they’d first met, and wondered at it. It was tucked into the red ribbon that ran around the hat, and when she’d taken the hat to repair it and gotten a closer look, she’d noticed that it was carefully stitched into place. It was striped black and sapphire blue, with a tiny splash of white at the tip.

“Oh!” Luffy said. “That’s Sabo’s!”

Nami blinked. “Sabo?” she repeated.

“My brother!” Luffy said.

Zoro blinked one eye open from where he’d been napping on one of the little boat’s benches, lifting his head. “You’ve got a brother?” he asked.

“There’s more of you?” Nami said at the same time.

Luffy snickered. “I’ve got two big brothers!” he explained. “They both set out to sea before me, though. Sabo first, and then Ace second. Sabo had bluejay wings. Yours kinda remind me of them, Nami!”

Had, Nami thought, and thought of Nojiko- solid blue wings, tipped with black. Thought about the osprey feather tucked away in the very back of her dresser in Cocoyashi. “Yeah?”

“Yeah!” Luffy said. “They’re really pretty! And glittery and blue, like the ocean!”

“Oh,” Nami said. “...Thanks.”

...So maybe she liked her temporary captain, just a little. It wouldn’t change anything, in the end.

Usopp lied about his wings. He kept them tucked close to his back, and whenever someone asked, he’d come up with a new species, something big and intimidating. Hawk, eagle, falcon- something flashy, impressive, worthy of a brave warrior of the sea.

Of course, none of those were true. (Nothing he said ever was.) Everyone in the village knew it, too- they’d known him since he was a kid, after all. The truth he never wanted to admit was that his wings were unremarkable, just like him. Plain black, medium size, with a thick stripe of white running through the middle of each. He only ever opened them when he was with his friends, or with Kaya.

The first time she’d seen his wings was when he threw his arms open too wide when telling a story, caught up in the fantasy inside his head, and unbalanced himself from his perch on the tree outside her window. They’d snapped open on instinct to break his fall and let him catch himself midair, and he’d flapped back up to her window to see her beaming.

“Look,” she’d said, and stretched her own wings open- big beautiful crane wings, wide and white but with a thick band of black on the inside of each. Just the opposite of his. “We match!”

Over time, Kaya’s sickness had taken its toll on her wings, just as on the rest of her. She was always shedding drifts of feathers, leaving her wings looking scrawny and patchy. They were beautiful nonetheless, though, wide and graceful, the surviving feathers bright white.

“Someday,” he told her, “We’ll go flying, once you’re better and your feathers grow back. And I’ll show you the island where everything is made out of candy, and the trees talk to you!”

She laughed into her hands, wings curling around her. “Do they?”

“They do!” Usopp confirmed, nodding emphatically. “And they sing, too. But only for kind-hearted girls with white wings. So if we went there, they’d sing for you for sure!”

She smiled, big and warm and honest. “That sounds lovely, Usopp!”

Usopp grinned back.

A couple days later, the pirates came.

And it was sudden and violent and terrifying, and Klahadore’s massive black vulture wings seemed to block out the sky, and Usopp was sure a dozen times over that he was going to die, but-

But he didn’t.

By the time it was all over and it was time to set sail, Kaya’s wings were already looking healthier.

“Kid,” the old man had said, the first day on the rock, voice gruff and thick from coughing up seawater. “You still alive?”

Sanji didn’t say anything, pulling skinny knees to his chest and glaring over the top of them at the old man’s back. The old man had a long piece of driftwood balanced over his knees, and was methodically shredding his shirt into long strips. One of his wings was awkwardly bent in a way that made Sanji cringe to look at. The pain must have been terrible, but the old man’s voice didn’t even shake.

“C’mere. I need your help with something.”

Sanji didn’t move. “What?” he asked, and almost winced at the croak of his own voice.

“Can’t reach my wing. Busted it against the rocks, and if I don’t set it now it won’t heal right.”

“So?” Sanji muttered sullenly. “What do I care?”

“You stupid, brat?” the old man asked tiredly, and didn’t even give Sanji time to bristle before he continued, “Your wings ain’t big enough to reach land yet, but you’re little enough to carry. If my wing heals right, I can get us both off this rock. Hopefully before we starve to death.”

“...How do I know you won’t leave me?” Sanji had asked suspiciously.

The old man looked at him askance over his shoulder, holding himself stiffly so as not to jar his injured wing. “Shit, kid, I might be a pirate, but I’m not a monster. You think I’d just ditch a little kid to die?”

Sani blinked. Oh.

(It had made Judge so, so angry, that Sanji was the only one of his brothers with wings. It was an embarrassment, an infuriation, that the failure could fly unassisted when the perfect sons could not. It was why he’d been locked away, in a cell where he could never see the sky, where there was no hope at all of flight.)

He inched his way across the craggy stone to the old man, lips pressed tight. He took the stick of driftwood and makeshift bandages and quietly set to work, following the old man’s terse instructions. He wasn’t used to being on this end of it. Normally it was Reiju bandaging his injuries, setting his sprains and broken bones.

(“You deserve to fly,” she’d said through desperate tears as she shoved him towards the ship, grey-and-violet wings pulled close to her back. “Go!”)

One he had the last clumsy knot tied, the old man gave him some of the food- so little- and they split to wait. For the old man’s broken bones to heal, or for a ship to come. Whichever came first.

And they’d waited, and waited, and waited.

After the third week, Sanji had started to lose feathers. After the makeshift shelter he’d managed to scrounge together fell apart, his wings provided the only protection from the elements. He huddled behind their shade as the weeks crawled by, agonizingly slowly.

Fallen black and white feathers littered the stone around him by the time desperation drove him to curl shaking fingers around a knife, and drag himself to the other side of the island, and discover the terrible truth. The knife clattered to the stone, and Sanji collapsed along with it.

It was twenty more days before the old man was well enough to fly. Sanji was half-unconscious with delirium by then, and all he knew of the flight was hunger, and wind, and endless, endless blue. The ocean below, and the cloudless sky above, and nothing at all between.

It never did quite leave his mind.

“Have you ever heard,” he said, leaning against the railing and turning to look at the idiot in the straw hat, “of the All Blue?”

Chopper had never had wings.

It was just another reason he knew he’d never fit in. No matter how human he could make himself look, he would never have wings, and that would always give him away.

He did know how to treat them, though. Of course he did. A great doctor needed to know those sorts of things. Doctorine had taught him- about wing breaks and sprains, the sort of injuries that could be crippling and the ones where the patient might fly again, her own grey parrot wings flaring dramatically whenever she made a point.

At the moment, Doctorine was leaning over the unconscious bodies of their three newest patients- the blonde man with the back injury, the girl with the fever, and the black-haired boy.

“Let’s see here,” she hummed. “Secretarybird, common magpie, and- hm.”

Chopper blinked up at her, intrigued by her sudden silence. Her expression was hard to read. “Doctorine? Is it about that boy’s wings? I saw they were different, and he hasn’t got feathers, is that normal for humans? Is he sick?”

“Not normal,” she agreed absently. “But not unprecedented, either.” She chuckled. “It’s been some time since I last met a D.”

“A… huh?”

Doctorine waved it off. “Oh, nothing. Get him to a warm room and then prep Mr. Secretarybird there for surgery, will you? I need to find the antibiotics for Miss Magpie, she’s the most urgent of the three.”

“Ah- yes, Doctorine!” Chopper agreed, and bounced into action, and questions about feathers and wings and Ds were quickly forgotten.

Franky didn’t have wings.

He had had, at one point, though he’d never really cared much about them either way. After all, Tom-san hadn’t had wings, and neither had Kokoro. And it wasn’t like they were any use for shipbuilding, and he didn’t have many places to fly to, anyways.

Iceberg had taught him how to fly, even though he’d always insisted he didn’t need Iceberg to teach him anything. But it had been useful for getting up to high places that needed construction, or making a quick getaway after breaking something, and- yeah, okay, he could admit it. It was fun. Flying had been fun.

And then there had been the sea train. And wings were so very fragile.

By the time he hauled himself aboard the scrap ship with broken hands, he already knew he wouldn’t fly ever again. His wings were wrecked beyond any dream of repair, skin shredded and bones shattered into fragments. Even if he had the ability to create prosthetics lightweight and detailed enough to replace them- which, not to sell himself short, he probably could, given time and materials that he didn’t have- he never would have been able to attach them to the nerves properly, not at that angle.

No, better just to amputate, and cauterize, and focus on the things he did need: his hands, his eyes, his organs.

And he’d gone on, and it had been fine, and most of the time he barely missed flying at all.

“Look,” he said, as the Agua Laguna raged outside and the dumb pirate kid refused to listen to reason. “Listen to me, bro. I’m serious. You listening?”

The kid didn’t answer, but he did pause in hammering away at his dead ship for a moment, which Franky decided to take as a yes.

“Your ship’s crippled,” Franky said bluntly. “She can’t sail anymore. It’s like- okay, you saw my wings are gone, right?”

“...Yeah.”

“Taking that ship to sea,” Franky said, “would be like pushing me off a cliff. There was a time I could’ve survived that just fine, but now it’d smash me to pieces. Your ship’s lost her wings. And no matter what, you can’t fix that.”

The kid stared at him, biting his lip so hard it looked like it might bleed, something cracking in his eyes, black and white wings curling protectively around his shoulders. Franky felt for him, he really did- he knew better than most what it felt like to fight something you couldn’t possibly win to try and save something you loved- but truth was truth, even when it hurt.

He was just starting to hope he might have finally gotten through when the door crashed open and suddenly, they all had bigger problems to worry about.

Robin’s wings were nondescript. It was useful, in its way, when it came to living in hiding. From the slanderous stories told about her and the people of Ohara, people expected crow, raven, rook- something dark and threatening. Or even featherless demon wings, much like those of her new captain.

Instead, her wings were simple, uniform dark grey with tawny orange-brown patches spreading from the shoulders. Robin wings.

Her mother’s had looked much the same, she remembered. It was one of the only details that had stuck in her head about Nico Olvia, as the long years had worn away at the few memories of her mother she had. Most of her mother’s face was a blur, now, but she still remembered a few things: white hair, sad eyes, wings of a mourning dove.

As Spandam dragged her down the Bridge of Hesitation, hands and powers bound, she flapped her wings frantically as hard as she could, even as the chains around her shoulders to weigh her down and stop her flying broke feathers and gouged at skin with every movement. She didn’t even need lift, just to push herself backwards a meter, a foot, an inch-

If she could buy even a minute, even a second-

Spandam spat an ugly word at her as he was jerked backwards, stumbling for a moment and nearly face-planting onto the bridge before he managed to find his balance. He snarled, grabbed her by the shoulder and hurled her to the ground, driving the air from her lungs with a painful gasp.

He stomped down hard between her shoulder blades, pinning her down.

“You know,” he said, sounding almost gleeful, “the Tenryuubito cut off the wings of their slaves. To be sure they’ll never escape. Maybe I’ll recommend that, as part of your judgement. Or…”

He moved his shoe from the center of her back to press lightly down on one of the delicate wing-joints in her right wing, and her breath caught.

“Or maybe I’ll just do it myself,” he said. “What do you think, Nico Robin?”

Nico Olvia, with white hair and sad eyes and mourning-dove wings that had been bloodied, perforated by rifle-shots, ruined to stop her from flying away-

They’d aimed for the wings, first. They’d wanted to be sure that not a single scholar could escape. Not one was left uncrippled by the time the marines evacuated the burning wreck of Ohara.

(Except Robin.)

“It’s not like you’ll be flying ever again, where you’re going,” Spandam continued, starting to press down, and Robin closed her eyes and grit her teeth against the pain and the rising plea for mercy alike. She refused to beg. Her mother had fought to the end, and so would she.

Then there was a blaze of light, and a crash, and a fireball caught Spandam perfectly in the head, and Robin was saved.

(Though, perhaps, if she was honest with herself, she’d been saved a very long time ago.)

When Brook had been alive, his wings had been soft, plain uniform brown.

Nightingale, Yorki had laughed, one late night when they were sorting through a wing glossary one of the crewmen had picked up on the latest island, trying to place everyone’s wings. Oi, Brook, no wonder you’ve got the best singing voice on the ship.

Brook had warbled out a few notes in response, as horrifically flat and off-pitch as he could physically manage, and Yorki had nearly cracked a rib laughing.

But wings rotted away just like all other flesh, and by the time Brook crawled his way back to the world of the living, they were nothing but bones and a drift of soft brown feathers, shed on the rotting planks. He tucked a few of the feathers away in an inside pocket of his coat, just in case they helped Laboon to recognize him, someday.

Catching the remnants of his wings in the corners of his eyes (ah, but he didn’t have those anymore-), grasping and skeletal, always caught him off guard, almost worse than catching sight of his reflection. The bare, bright white stood in such contrast to the soft brown he was so used to seeing that he thought he would never truly get used to it. He couldn’t imagine anyone else would, either.

And then-

“Your wings are awesome, Brook!” Luffy said, bright and enthusiastic and entirely sincere, sprawled on his back on the piano. His wings were splayed out beneath him- featherless and red, entirely unlike any Brook had never seen before. “They’re so cool!”

For a moment, Brook couldn’t find words. (How unsuiting, for a songsmith.) And then he said, “Why, thank you, Luffy-san. I should tell you, though… I’m afraid they’re not good for much. I can no longer fly.”

Luffy blinked, and then said, “So? I can’t, neither.”

“...You can’t?”

Luffy snickered, grinning. “Nah! My wings only sorta work. Something ‘bout my devil fruit and my bones or something. I don’t really get it. But it doesn’t matter! I mean, I can just rocket to places. And you too, right? You can run on water! That’s so cool!”

Brook looked at Luffy’s beaming grin for a long moment, and couldn’t stop the urge to smile back, even though he had no lips with which to do so.

And then he said, “May I join your crew?”

Luffy laughed like the best song Brook had ever heard. “Sure!”

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sarahwritesss · 3 years

Text

hack + promise

“Hack?”

Hack cracks his eyes open, rubbing his eyes and groggily sitting up, peering at the door. Sabo stands in the doorway, looking down and scuffing his feet.

He says, more tentative than Hack has ever heard him be, “Can I stay with you for a little while?”

Hack nods immediately and Sabo’s shoulders slump, relief emanating from his every movement as he slowly pads over and nervously settles on the edge of Hack’s bed. Sabo, ten years old, barely recovered from the hellish recovery from his burns, still reeling from the loss of ten years of his memory, is sitting on the side of his bed, shaking, and Hack doesn’t know how to deal with this.

(One year into their friendship, and the one thing Hack knows about this kid is that he hides. Hides his sadness, hides his emotion, hides wishes, and dreams, and his lack of memories. His fears.

For him to be this blatantly reaching out, this blatantly afraid, whatever happened must be bad.)

Hack gently places a hand on Sabo’s shoulder, and the fact that he jumps slightly just shows how out of it he is. “What’s wrong?” He asks, gentle, and Sabo shudders, looking down at the ground and gripping the edge of the bed, the backs of his hands going white from strain.

“I just…” Sabo cuts off, frustration threading through his tone. Hack waits, patient, as Sabo collects his thoughts and continues, “I just…my memories are gone, I know that, but sometimes things just…flash through my brain and I can’t control it and it’s so frustrating.” Hack hums in understanding, and Sabo bites his lip, seeming to want to say something, but not knowing how.

Hack knows the feeling.

“Today was fire,” Sabo whispers, bringing a band up and desperately gripping at the hand Hack has yet to remove from his shoulder. Hack turns his hand over to let Sabo twine his fingers through Hack’s, and he immediately grips tightly at it. “It’s not clear…all I can see is it swallowing me up; swallowing everyone up…and I can’t stop it. I can’t protect-”

Sabo’s voice breaks, and Hack shifts so that he can wrap a gentle arm around Sabo’s shoulder, and Sabo immediately collapses into him, a sob welling out of his throat. Hack hums gently as Sabo shudders against him, heart clenching at the small hands clutching at his shirt.

(He’s too small, too young to have gone through this much, this early.

Life has a way of destroying the young and only leaving the bold, brave, strong standing.)

“I can’t promise that these memories won’t haunt you,” Hack says, gentle, and Sabo sniffs, peering up at him through his tear-laden lashes, and Hack wishes, so much, that he could take that pain away from him.

He can’t.

But, there is one thing he can promise.

“And I can’t promise that you won’t go through pain like this again – however much I wish I could. I can, however, promise that you’ll never be alone.” Sabo looks up at him, pulling away slightly, and Hack puts as much compassion into his smile as he can. A small smile peaks through the tears as Hack continues, “You’ll always have us. I can promise that much. We won’t ever let you suffer through this alone.”

Sabo stares into Hack’s eyes for a moment, as if testing him; testing his truthfulness, and there is nothing but honesty in Hack’s heart. Sabo seems to realize that and relaxes fully, leaning back into Hack and gripping his shirt again, but there’s a small smile curving against his ribs, and Hack smiles and counts that as a victory.

“Thanks,” Sabo mumbles into his chest, and Hack chuckles softly, rubbing gently into Sabo’s back.

“Anytime,” He says, and means it. He’ll do anything for those he cares about.

Anything for his family.

#one piece #opfics #hack #sabo #dressrosa spoilers #my writing #I....love them

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psychedelic-ink · 4 years

Text

3 in the morning secrets

Not wanting to get caught out of bed this time, I waited until the submarine quieted down around me with a quick nap. When I woke up, everything seemed silent so I grabbed the same black coat I had used before and made my way to the door, but when I tried to open it, it wouldn’t budge.

“Locked, huh?” I touched the tip of my index finger to the lock and forced my power into the mechanism, moving the pins as I gently moved my wrist up and down keeping my finger on the lock “That’s adorable.” With a swift twist of my wrist, I turned the lock and it opened as if I had the key. I know I wasn’t at my best but the day I couldn’t pick a lock, I might as well hang my pirate heart too.

Still, I needed to know just how badly this ordeal had affected my abilities, my strength, my speed, my agility. Only then could I start to make good on the promise I made to my unconscious brother.

I walked through the empty metal halls, a contrast to the sea of faces I had been met with before and the corridors were a lot darker now too, I assumed it as a way to save energy. It’s not like the darkness affected me, having eaten a Zoan type devil fruit had it’s advantages and seeing in the dark happened to be one of mine and to think that with the slip of fate I could’ve been rubber instead.

Being able to see where I was going, didn’t really mean I knew where I was going. I didn’t get to see a training room in my last visit and it’s not like I knew my way around this submarine yet. I thought I’d stop by the mess hall, hope my stomach wouldn’t realize where I was and then make my way from there. I mean, if I hung around the infirmary like place, I was more likely to get caught.

I’m almost stepping into the mess hall when I hear something – seemingly pots – fall and a familiar voice grumbling at them. I quickly stop and look around the corner, in the kitchen side of the room, stood Law arguing with some pans. He didn’t have his signature hat, so I could see his short dark hair and how it wasn’t groomed at all like he had just gotten out of bed, despite this, he was wearing his yellow and black hoodie and I couldn’t see him from the waist down as he was behind the counter. I chuckled to myself at the sight of him and quickly hid back behind the wall in case he had heard me or something, mentally slapping myself for being so careless.

“Room.” Shit “Shambles.” In a blink of an eye, I was now behind the kitchen counter, looking at the door where I had been not a second ago and heard the soft sound of what I assumed was a wooden spoon falling to the floor in the place where I had been “Do I have to weld the door shut to get you to rest?”

I turned around to be reminded that he was a good twenty centimetres taller than me, but I simply shrugged with the same wiseass smirk I tended to have “You can try, but fair warning, I’m exceptionally good at doing the opposite of what I’m told.”

He rubbed his face with a tired expression “Yeah, I’m starting to get that…” in fact, I noticed that he just seemed generally tired, there were bags under his eyes and his shoulders were slacked like he was carrying the weight of the world on them “What are you doing up at this hour? Can’t you just stay in the infirmary like I tell you and rest?” even his voice sounded tired.

“Can’t vouch for the time, I don’t even know what day it is, let along the time.” I replied, turning to the cabinets to search for snacks “But, if you must know, all I’ve been seeming to do is sleep and cry as you very rudely pointed out yesterday, I was looking for somewhere to practice.”

“You ripped your stiches yesterday over some boxes and now you want to go train with no supervision?” he asked from his same spot behind me “If you’re so intent on killing yourself you should let me know, it’ll save the trouble of patching you up every time.”

“I’m not gonna die.” I snapped back trying to ignore how much I sounded like my oldest brother - I promise I will never die. – he had said…

Law’s eyes turned a bit darker as he fully faced me “Everyone dies.”

“Not me. Not now.” I replied with more conviction than I expected out of myself “Luffy has been through enough. He lost both his brothers, I refuse to have him lose his sister too.” I explained “But I also don’t wanna lose the only brother I have left, the only real family I have left. So I’m gonna get myself back into shape and if that means me and you will argue every time I do so? Then so be it.”

Something in his eyes seemed to change at my words but I couldn’t quite place it “Are you always this stubborn?”

“Oh, you’ve seen nothing yet.” I chuckle turning to the cabinets and finding a pack of rice crackers, I pulled them out and showed it to him asking “May I?”

“Su-IF YOU’RE GONNA ASK FOR PERMISSION, AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL I ANSWER!” I just turned back to close the cabinet door with a cracker already in my mouth “You’re impossible to deal with, you know?”

“Yeah…” he wasn’t the first to say it and I was sure he wouldn’t be the last, still I turned to him and kept munching on my newly found snacks “But going back to sleep isn’t really an option.”

“You’re still having nightmares, huh…?” I basically glared at him, wondering how the hell he could know that “I’m not just the captain, I’m also the ship’s doctor. My office is literally next door to the infirmary.” He explained “You scream when you’re having nightmares.”

I put the packet of rice crackers aside, suddenly losing my appetite and crossing my arms over my chest “Sorry about that…”

“It’s alright, I know what it’s like to have nightmares you wake up screaming from…” he bit his lip like he regretted saying anything. He turned away to grab a pan and some ingredients off the cabinets “You’re hungry right? I was gonna make something anyway, sit.”

I raised him an eyebrow “You’re gonna cook? I thought you said it was late.”

He shrugged “It’s 3 in the morning, it’s actually early. Unless you don’t want to?”

I gave him the nicest smile I could muster “I’ll set the table.”

He gave me a tight smile and turned to his cooking while I turned to the mess hall. I thought there was no point to go all the way out there to eat, there were a couple of shorter counters around the kitchen so I decided to move a couple of chairs there and then set the table. Turning back to the mess hall, I reached out my right hand and focused on one of the chairs closest to the kitchen. “Breathe and focus. If you can lift it with your arms, why not with your mind?” – Sabo had suggested all those years ago, he helped me with the basics when I had no idea where to even start. So I did it, I took a deep breath and carefully pulled the chair from the table. It moved and I turned my palm up making it float off the ground. Using my abilities, even on something so simple as that chair, had my wounds burning to remind me that this wasn’t magic, it depends on my own body strength. I willed the floating chair to come to me and then, using both my hands for stability, I placed it on the floor. I repeated the process with another chair, with the plates from the cabinets and with the cutlery from the drawers.

By the time I finished, I had to sit but I could’ve beamed in celebration. As small of a victory it was, it was still a victory, when I first tried that, Dadan was furious at me for basically breaking all the plates in the house. Mysteriously, the next day they had all been replaced by expensive looking china, to this day I’d bet my life it had been Ace that replaced them for me.

It didn’t take long for Law to finish what he was cooking up and I took him our plates. I had to admit, it looked good and it smelled even better, he sat across from me and we started eating, it was delicious. After the first couple of mouthfuls, I broke the silence “First time I got them, I was about seven.” I sensed his eyes shift to me but I kept mine on my plate “I saw one of my three brothers being killed and after that I’d wake up screaming and crying, sometimes I couldn’t breathe… I’d wake up truly terrified.”

“How did you get over them?”

I chuckled to myself and ate a spoonful of food “I didn’t do anything. I had Ace and Luffy there for me, they helped me get through the nightmares.” I looked back at him “In my opinion, getting through nightmares is a lot better than getting over them.”

I’m not sure what I expected to see, but it was certainly not a sad smile “I used to help my little sister with her nightmares too…”

“You have a sister?” I took another spoonful of food “What’s she like?”

His smile softened as he looked at his plate “She loved festivals.” He scoffed “We had basically a different festival every month in our town and it’s not like they were very different from each other, but every time she’d make a big deal out of it, would basically drag me and our parents out.” He tilted his head, eyes still on his plate “I don’t think we’d have left the hospital half as many times without her.”

“Hospital?”

He glanced up at me “Both my parents were doctors, they liked to stay close to their patients so we basically lived at the hospital.”

“Your sister sounds like a nice girl.” I took another spoonful of food.

Law turned his eyes back to his plate “She was.” The amount of past tenses in his story finally caught up to me “Then a bunch of soldiers killed everyone in town and burned down the hospital she was hiding in.”

My shoulders dropped slightly at his eyes. It was like he was seeing it all over again, living it all over again. All I knew was that I had to snap him out of it, getting sucked into your own personal nightmares wasn’t really fun, especially when they really happened. I reached out for his hand before I even processed what I was doing. Touch always snapped me back to the present and it seemed to do the trick with him too as he pulled away like I had burned him. Unlike what I’d do – turn away and not make eye contact if my life depended on it – his wide eyes quickly met mine and I made sure he could see both my hands “You back?”

He shook his head “Sorry…”

“You don’t have to apologize…”

“No.” he put his spoon down “It’s just…”

I smiled as I noticed him struggling with his own subconscious. It was weird, it reminded me of when my brothers had tried to get me talking about my nightmares “Been fighting your own darkness recently?”

“You could say that…” he raised me an eyebrow as he gestured between me and him “And it’s not like I do this. Ever.”

I raised him an eyebrow “And you think I do? I’ve got a reputation to uphold, mr Surgeon of Death.”

He scoffed “Reputation as what? The craziest cat in the Grand Line?”

“Tiger! I’m a tiger, polar panda!” I argued back, both of us too tired to put up a front.

He rubbed his face “How in the world did you come up with a polar panda?!”

“I told you.” I replied “From your hat!”

“No! But how!? My hat looks nothing like a panda, let alone a polar one.”

“It’s white, it has black spots and it’s fluffy. It’s a polar panda.” I explained like it was perfectly obvious but he just sighed against his hand.

“I haven’t slept enough for this…” strangely though, he started laughing and so did I… It wasn’t full hearted laughs, far from it, it was tired, it was pained and broken… And I certainly was all that at the moment, maybe he was too. But between all the maybes and the bad memories, right now? Right now, we weren’t alone.

The fact that Luna won’t stay in bed is giving me anxiety xD

#submission #burntsubmission #OC #one piece oc #monkey d luna #lunna-star-8

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tunesscribbles · 5 years

Text

Sabo x Reader

(gender neutral reader)

Do Shooting Stars Ever Get Homesick?

Or: Late Night Thoughts With Our Favourite Chief Of Staff Or: The One In Which The Reader Hasn't Had A Proper Night's Sleep In A While

“Koala, when was the last time you saw [Name]?“, Sabo asked. He just returned from his last mission, earlier than they thought, which is why Koala was slightly surprised to be hearing his voice again so soon. “Sabo!“, she greeted and hugged him cheerfully, leaving his question unanswered for the moment. “I didn't think I'd see this worried face of yours so soon. Did you already report back?“ “It's nice to see you too, Koala.“, he replied with a smile. “And yes, that was the first thing I did. Back to my ques-“ “Did you even shower or change at least? Look, your coat is still all singed! And do I wanna know what that weird stain on your shirt is?“, the girl rambled while inspecting her colleague intently. “Yeah-no I just got back. I didn't have the time to.“, Sabo said, now also looking down on himself suspiciously. He did look pretty wrecked. Most of his clothes were either singed, tattered or had some questionable stains on them. Sabo grimaced slightly. ”Well at least your hat is still okay.“, Koala mentioned as she examined it. He wouldn't know what he'd done if his hat had been severely damaged. Everything else could wait until further inspection. “Also, if my memory doesn't betray me, [Name] should be on the balcony currently.“ Just like that Sabo snatched his headgear back from her and stormed off. “Hey, you can't just leave me here like that!“, Koala shouted after him but he already disappeared into a cloud of dust. “How RUDE!“ Sabo found you a little bit later on the balcony, like Koala predicted. You were leaning onto the railing. Sabo snuck up to you and put his hat on your head. The hat was a bit too big for your head, so it slid over your eyes slightly. “Hey, I'm not your personal hatstand, Sabo!“, you protested and pushed the headgear up a bit, so you could see him properly. “Are you sure? You ain’t much taller than a hatstand.“, he replied teasingly. You huffed and pushed him playfully. “Also, shouldn't you be sleeping? It's at least 3am!“ “It's so late already? I didn't notice.“, you answered but yawned a little bit. “Sure you didn't. What have you been up to while I was gone?“, he asked. You grew annoyed of the way the hat always slid over your eyes so you put it down on the railing. “Oh, you know, this and that...“ “Now, that's what I call specific!“, he said sarcastically. “I know right? 'Specific' is my last name!“ “Really? I thought that was 'clumsy'.“ “Only on monday and thursday. What day is it?“ “Monday.“ “But not thursday! But the more important question is: What did you do? You look like you fell down a hill...that was partially on fire!“, you said and pointed at his clothes. “Oh, you know, this and that...“, he retorted, copying your answer from earlier. You both chuckled lightly at the end of this friendly banter. “Sabo?“ He hummed in response and turned to look at you. “Do you think shooting stars ever get homesick?“, you asked him completely serious. He needed a moment to process what you just said. “I mean, think about it. They fall down from so far up there“, you pointed towards the night sky, “and they can never go back. It's pretty sad if you think about it.“, you continued. “[Name], are you drunk or something?“, he asks suspiciously. “No.“, you answered bemused. He eyed you questioningly and only now noticed the dark circles under your eyes. “When was the last time you slept?“ “Uh...I dunno. About four, five days ago? It's all kind of a blur.“ You made a dismissive hand gesture. “Well that explains it.“ “You still didn't answer my question, Sabo!“ “What? The one about the shooting stars?“ He actually thought about it for a moment or two. “I guess it depends on whether or not they liked it where they came from.“ He tried to remember where he came from, but he still couln't recall more than he could on the day Dragon-san found him: He really doesn't want to go back. “Why did you think about such a question? Or was the homesick shooting star a metaphor for yourself?“, he asked with a slight smile. You pondered his question for a while. “Nah“, you said eventually and grimaced a little. Sabo caught himself sighing with relief. “As long as I got you and Koala, I'm fine.“ “I feel deeply honoured.“ He made some kind of bow. “Oh, you should be!“, you laughed. “Four days without sleep, do you have some more of these philosophical questions?“ “Oh tons! Do you wanna hear some more?“ By now you both had settled down on the ground. “Shoot!“ Extended Ending: Koala later found the two of you sound asleep on the balcony. You must have fallen asleep at some point during the conversation. You don't remember who fell asleep first. With the help of some other revelutionaries she brought you both inside, so you wouldn't catch a cold. Somehow a picture of Sabo and you cuddled up to each other landed on the fridge. If anyone asks, Koala knows nothing.

#sabo #sabo x reader #one piece sabo #one piece #one piece x reader #one piece koala #one piece revolutionary army #reader insert #fluff #dumb philosophy #late night conversation #the scribbles

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neverwatchedonepiece · 6 years

Text

483-484: ‘Looking for the Answer! Fire Fist Ace Dies On the Battlefield!’ and ‘The Navy Headquarters Falls! Whitebeard's Unspeakable Wrath.’

...

Actually watched these on Friday but was too bummed about what had happened to post. Turns out one of the spoilers was real, after all. Joy of joys. One more to go and then all I’ll have floating around my head is that Sanji has a sister.

Annoyed at the spoiler-tastic title, though. Thanks, Toei, for ruining that in advance. I was also unwittingly spoiled by the latest Uniqlo/SJ 50 t-shirt drop (but didn’t know it at the time because I was clueless about the panel’s context).

Yes, I am delaying the inevitable...

Better get on with it.

R.I.P. Fire Fist Ace

I am sad and mad at the waste of life.

Ace had so much to live for, but he had no regrets, so from his perspective, it is okay. I mean, the old cliche is true, right? Death is easy for the dead. Those they leave behind have to deal with the fallout. And Luffy is... beyond distraught. Catatonic with despair, actually, to the point Jimbei had to step in or else he would have been fried by Akainu.

Picking up where 483 left off, despite the Big Damned Spoiler Title, I knew Ace was not in a good way. If that title hadn’t ruined it, I might have thought even then that Ace would make it through. If Whitebeard can fight on with a hole in his chest, why couldn’t Ace? And the Pirate Alliance had Emporio Ivankov on their side, right?

There were a few final twists and turns, a few flashes of drama, before the quiet, sad moment happened. Garp rushing down to Ace, Sengoku having to pin him to stop Garp killing Akainu (I wish he hadn’t. I still want that Garp Monkey D. Family Team to happen). The nightmare fuel scene when Akainu was shot point blank by bazooka fire and walked back through the flames like a zombie with parts missing. The moment when Jimbei stood between Ace and Akainu “You will not touch him again! I have been ready to die since the beginning!” with Akainu retorting, “Looks like I need to execute a traitor.” Marco breaking free courtesy of Mr 3, enabling Luffy to take Ace away...

Damn, I really didn’t think Oda would have the cajones to kill off Ace. The moment was done well, though, so at least there’s that. Weirdly, the scene reminded me of Mufasa’s death (from The Lion King). Just Luffy’s fragile, tentative questions, “Hey. Hey... are you alright?” mixed with the horror of realisation something was terribly wrong when he placed his hand on Ace’s back and it came back thick with blood.

But still, he could deny it then. Ace could be treated. Ace could be cured. Emporio Ivankov was on his side!

Unfortunately, the damage was irreparable. Ace’s organs had been completely burned away. The moment Ivankov had to break that news was horrible. I felt so bad for Luffy. He tried to bargain desperately: “You can’t die! You promised you would never die, no matter what!”

Knowing he didn’t have much time left, Ace took advantage of the quiet moment to have a last talk with his little brother. I liked how Toei froze the battle, cast everything and everyone but Ace and Luffy in greyscale, because for that moment, the only alive people in the world were two brothers.

“I wouldn't even have had a will to live if it weren't for Sabo and a high maintenance brother like you. If you see Dadan someday, say hello for me. When I face my own death, I even miss a woman like her. There is one thing that makes me wanna stay. That is my desire to see you fulfill your dream. But I'm sure that you can do it. Because you're my brother. Like we promised that day, I have no regrets in life. Something tells me that what I truly wanted was not fame. Did I deserve to be born? What I wanted was the answer to that question.

I can't raise my voice to let anyone hear anymore, Could you tell them what I'm about to say now? Old man, everyone, and you Luffy. Thank you... for loving someone like me: a good for nothing who has such bad blood in his veins... Thank you!”

Yeah, so at that point, I was just staring at the screen, watching Ace die and labouring under the same haze of denial as Luffy. It still wasn’t real. Then Ace’s eyes glazed over, the little flame inside him finally winked out and he slumped to the ground with a smile on his face. Even the vivre card burned to ashes.

Watching Luffy realise his brother was dead was worse than Ace’s last words. Eyes wide, he just stared at his blood-soaked hands and shook. “Ace...? Ace...?”

Then he screamed. The grief was too much and he shut down completely.

This is the second gut-wrenching loss Luffy has suffered in quick succession. As far as he’s concerned, he’s lost his crew. Now, he has lost his only brother. I wonder how this will affect Luffy going forward? I’m assuming Luffy will use Ace’s death to swear vengeance on the Marines and World Government. Take note, Marines: this is how you create a mighty enemy. Luffy does need to be stronger. But, damn, if that is not a harsh way to learn that lesson...

Oh, and I don’t ever want to see Jimbei sobbing again. That was too much on top of everything else. ;_;

Akainu Is Not A Good Person

He’s behind me, isn’t he?

That shot is honestly the only thing that cheered me up over these two episodes. I watched it three times and laughed like a drain every time.

Then it just got better because Oda let Whitebeard loose on Akainu and it was glorious! It’s as if Oda realised, “Yeah, the fans will be grieving and seething, let’s give them an outlet for their feelz.”

Akainu made another swipe at Luffy, but Marco stepped in. Unfortunately, Marco was wearing sandals. (Not the most effective footwear for facing off against Akainu. You’d need steel toe capped boots or special heat-entry PPE for that. Marco, you must update your look. Function over fashion. I know it will sting but it is for a good cause.) He couldn’t hold off Akainu completely. But someone who could rumbled up behind him.

Man... Whitebeard was mad. Beyond mad. “I will hammer you into the ground like a tent peg” mad. “I will punch you to pate” mad. I actually cheered when that first punch connected. The best part was when he grabbed Akainu by the collar, tossed him in the air and broke him with a devastating punch. I’ve never been happy to see someone bleed before. That was new.

But Akainu did get a hit in. Note to All Pirates: Do not let Akainu anywhere near your torso. Reblog to save a life!

It’s maybe too late for Whitebeard, though. I am not going to jump the gun again because Oda has subverted tropes before, but it seems like Whitebeard is intent on Marineford being his last stand. He split the battlefield so the Pirate Allies could escape, trapping himself on the other side with all the Marines.

It was also satisfying to see Marineford sinking into the sea along with Akainu! I may also have cheered at this and laughed: “YES! BYE, SAKAZUKI! SINK INTO THE OCEAN AND DROWN!” A measured response? Absolutely not. Do I think he will be saved? Hopefully not!

Then Teach appeared.

This is the first time I was not excited to see him and his crew. I thought, “Come on, mate. There’s a time and a place...”

But clearly, for Blackbeard, this is the perfect time and place.

Not Even In The Mood For Blackbeard

Teach has the chutzpah to turn up at Whitebeard’s last stand and advertise his new crew. I might be going off them. There are now ten Blackbeard pirates, so that’s my Individual Blackbeards vs Individual Strawhats theory up in smoke. (Unless Luffy recruits another crew member. Then it’s back on!)

So far, we have:

1. Blackbeard 2. Van Augr 3. Jacques Laffite 4. Jesus Burgess 5. Doc Q 6. San Juan Wolf 7. Catalina Devon 8. Shiryu of the Rain 9. Vasco Shot 10. Guy With Horns I Don’t Remember

Now it makes sense why Teach was sniffing about Impel Down. He was recruiting! Still don’t know what his game is, though. Why is he here now? What’s the point in having a chuckle at Whitebeard’s expense? Why advertise your new crew? I don’t think the Marines will be impressed that you took time off to recruit while there was a big battle going on.

I also have questions about San Juan Wolf.

How does San Juan Wolf fit on any ship? He is so massive he barely fits into shot and suffers from goddamned distance fade. Does he just trail after Teach’s ship like a massive, violent puppy? Where did they keep him in Impel Down? Would Ikea be interested in such space-defying dimensions?

I’ll have to stay tuned, I guess.

No, thank you, Ace. You’ve been great. ;_;

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wordsdrippinginink · 7 years

Note

Oh oh oh Or what about Time Travel! Time Travel Fix it feat. Ace.

Ace doesn’t say anything when he wakes up in the bandits hut after the burn of Akainu’s fist through his chest, the ache of it still there like a nightmare that won’t go away. It still burns and feels like he’s burning if he thinks about it, but Ace is dead now, so it can’t be real.

“Are you okay?” Sabo asks softly, after Ace has finally dragged himself from the hut and through a day of stealing money that means nothing since they are both dead and unable to be pirates.

Ace, Ace knows that he’s a monster, but he had been hoping that in death that he would be able to see his mother once. She was suppose to be amazing enough to make that man, the most dangerous and monstrous man in the world fall in love with her, Ace is sure that she must have been an angel. Maybe that’s why he wasn’t allowed to meet her, because she was an angel and he was the son of a demon. Her blood must have been entirely overwritten by his.

“I’m fine, Sabo,” Ace says smiling and feeling the way it’s forced onto his face because Sabo doesn’t remember Luffy. He had made the mistake of mentioning their little brother and he hadn’t known who Luffy was. Ace assumes this is what his punishment must be.

“You don’t seem alright,” Sabo mutters as he licks his fingers and starts to count their haul, muttering the numbers to himself and marking numbers down onto their accounting papers. “We made quite the haul today.”

“Good. We doubled our money, didn’t we?”

“Just about,” Sabo agrees hiding their funds away once more. “I need to head back to where I need to be. I’ll see you in a tomorrow?”

“Bright and early,” Ace sighs, still sprawled over the branch and staring at the sky. “I’ll head home in a bit, don’t worry Sabo.”

Sabo closes his mouth, obviously about to worry, but cut off too soon to try any of his usual attempts, shrugging and hurrying off as Ace stares up at the sky for a long time, trying to find some kind of flaw in it. Some sort of, any sort of something, that made it seem off because there was no way that he wasn’t dead and this wasn’t a punishment.

It’s sad that this Sabo, the Sabo who is just made from his memories Ace assumes like the rest of this place and has no memories of what happens after Luffy arrives or when they take off or when Sabo dies. It’s just as flat and empty as he thinks it is.

“I hope they loved me,” Ace whispers pulling his knees close to his chest and trying not to remember the look on Luffy’s face as he died in his little brother’s arms. “I hope they forgive me. I hope it was enough. I hope they didn’t die like I did. It wouldn’t be fair if they ended up some place like this just because I was stupid.”

It hurts to think about, his heart burns and he can’t decide if that’s because it hurts to think about everyone or because he can still remember his chest burning with Akainu’s hand and this is another part of his punishment. Along with not being allowed to see his mother.

He would had hoped that death would have been kinder than life, but Ace supposed that nothing would be kind for him in the end.

Ace stares at Luffy, fast asleep and readjusts everything that he’s been thinking of this place few years, his hands shaking as he fights not to brush through Luffy’s hair. Sabo had said he has been staring at Luffy like he’s seen a ghost and how could he not? If Luffy was here, if Luffy, who acted and did things and reacted to Ace in ways that he couldn’t predict was real that meant all of this was real. All of this was real and Ace wasn’t, he wasn’t dead.

“You’re doing it again,” Sabo whispers suddenly at his side. “That thing you do.”

“I’m thinking.” Ace admits.

Sabo smiles, rolling his eyes, and Ace with years of experience and having held Marco’s heart in his hands once upon a time, can tell the signs of a crush. Maybe just something that children have but he doesn’t know, he does know that he doesn’t think he fall in love with anyone for a while yet, not until they’re all mentally adults.

“You might not want to think too hard or you might fry your brain.”

Ace laughs remembering the devil’s fruit that he doesn’t have just yet, “I don’t think that’s possible. But I was thinking. And I’m thinking you’re very recognizable.”

“Oh, you’re right. Someone would notice me, tell my family,” Sabo bites his lip. “We wouldn’t do well against that. Not with their money.”

“I don’t want to lose you, you’re my brother,” He hopes that doesn’t hurt Sabo and his stupid crush. “And I care about you. So don’t you dare think about doing something stupid to try and keep them from noticing Luffy and I. We need you as much as you need us.”

Sabo stares at him and Ace wonders what is going on in his head for a long moment before he finally grins, “You’re different now. I like it.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“You’re my little brother, I have to make sure that you stay safe,” Ace teases. “You’re the one that needs to be kept safe you know, not me.”

“I need to be kept safe?” Sabo snorts raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Ace agrees, smiling at him. “You are just as bad as Luffy, I’m sure. Now get to bed, we have plans to make in the morning and I, for one, don’t want to be tired when that idiot decides we need to go against Tiger Lord or something equally stupid.”

A second chance, Ace considers because he doesn’t think even the afterlife could make something that acted like Luffy. He had a second chance and he wasn’t going to blow it.

#portgas d ace #sabo #mentioned luffy #mentioned marco/ace from the previous go around #and mentions of Sabo having a childhood crush on Ace because why not #ace is not going to do anything because he's an adult in a child's body #just before anyone tries to do anything with that #but like i have plans for more #but i wanted to get this posted #i hope this is okay #word's writing #restlesstsukiriver

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midnightluck · 7 years

Note

I read a fic a long time ago where the characters somehow got cursed or something to have all the things that people said about them appear on their skin (like if someone called them 'cute' theyd have'cute' stamped on their hand or somewhere else. i was thinking about this somehow happening to ace and the wbp (or mas or the asl), like they eat a crazy grand line fruit, and for the most part its pretty innocuous and funny, except that ace has stuff like 'should have been drowned at birth' 1/2

on his face (basically a lot of bad things people said from when he was a kid doing that ‘what if gold roger had a son’ thing. Maybe he would try to cover up, since there would some pretty incriminating stuff on there? basically id just really like some hurt/comfort with ace and sabo/marco/wbp in this scenario. he is a sad boy (sorry this all long and confusing, you dont have to do it at all if you dont want) 2/2

Oh, I’ve read those too! There was a Kakashi one I loved, I think, and a real good Tony Stark one! It’s a fun concept.

Also I got, uh, a bit carried away. So, y’know, sorry in advance. (edit: now with prequel)

–

“I’m not sick,” Ace says stubbornly. “I’m a fire logia. I can’t get sick.” And then he sneezes, sharp and sudden.

“Bad timing, with that sickness you don’t have,” Thatch says. “We’ve still got two more days out here.”

“I know; don’t worry,” Ace says, scooting back from the fire. “I’ll just run hot for a while and be fine.”

“Does that work?” Haruta asks, leaning away from him and the heat he’s suddenly throwing.

“Dunno,” Ace answers. “I haven’t been sick since I ate my fruit. Honestly thought I was immune.”

He doesn’t look happy, and Thatch can see why. Being sick is always miserable, and worse if you’re not used to it. He knows he packed an extra blanket, though, because Marco denies his nesting tendencies and yet always ends up stealing everyone’s bedding. He digs it out and hands it over. Ace glances at him and he shrugs. “If you want it,” he offers, and sets it on the ground.

Ace reaches for it, then pauses to stare at his hand for a second. Thatch doesn’t get a chance to follow suit because suddenly the blanket is flipped open and wrapped around bare shoulders.

Thatch and Marco share a worried glance. Ace never uses blankets, and he doesn’t accept help that easily either. And Ace isn’t even using it like a blanket; he’s got it wrapped around his back and over his head like a makeshift cape.

“You sure you’re feeling all right?” Thatch ventures.

“I can’t be sick,” Ace says, but he’s just a lump of blanket now. “I can’t.”

“Because you’re fire?” Marco asks.

“I’m from East Blue,” Ace says like it’s an explanation, but it really isn’t. It’s interesting, but as far as Thatch knows, there’s nothing about East Blue that makes its residents any hardier. The five of them exchange glances, but they must agree with him, because Haruta drawls out, “Yeah…?”

SThe lump of blanket twitches and hesitates but finally says, “I had the crawl.”

“The what now?” Vista asks. Thatch stops to think, but there’s actually not many on the crew from East Blue; it’s by far the most peaceful sea.

But Marco makes an oh kind of noise. “There’s a disease in East Blue,” he says, because of course he knows. “Childhood thing, like chicken pox or flower fever. It’s really bad but almost never fatal, yoi. It compromises the immune system for the rest of your life, though,” and there’s some worried looks until he adds, “not harmfully! But when you get sick, it comes back, yoi.”

“Oh!” Namur interrupts, “It’s the ink sickness!” Marco arches an eyebrow at him, and he nods. “I’ve seen it before in certain parts of Paradise. That’s out East Blue way; probably spread from the Grand Line somehow.”

That sounds likely, actually. It’s the kind of thing that makes only Grand Line levels of sense, after all, but Namur’s not done. “We were taught it was a curse that went wrong, back in my tribe. Some rich man in a castle said something rude, and he was cursed to wear other people’s words on his skin or something.”

Marco nods and takes the story back. “The Scrawl means that if Ace is sick, he’ll be covered in ink till he’s better, yoi. It’s all stuff people will have said about him to his face, isn’t it?”

Ace says nothing, but Namur nods. “Stuff said about you in your hearing that you believe,” he clarifies. “My niece had it as a kid. Always real proud when she gets sick because she says wearing complements is the best accessory.”

The blanket twitches again, and Thatch steps in. “We’re gonna respect Ace’s privacy,” he announces. “If he’s really sick and he gets all decorated up with complements, we’re not gonna try to read them, okay?”

He glances around, but everyone’s staring at him. “What?” he asks.

Marco shakes his head. “Didn’t expect that from you, is all,” he says, and Thatch puffs himself up.

“I’m very mindful of people’s privacy!” he says, and everyone laughs at him. Well, that’s not nice at all, but at least it broke the mood. “I am!”

“Sure you are,” Ace says, finally talking again. He’s got the blanket pulled back enough to show his face and it’s just as it always was. “You respect privacy, and I’m never hungry.”

Thatch clutches his chest and falls over with his other wrist over his eyes. “Betrayed!” he gasps, because if keeping eyes on him is what’s getting Ace to calm down, he will gladly flop around overdramatically for the rest of the night.

And it works, because as they chat and pick at Thatch, Ace’s makeshift hood comes down. He falls asleep well before the rest of them, and whether it’s a narcolepsy attack or just exhaustion, no one says anything when Marco leans over to tug the blanket into place, covering all his skin.

–

Thatch blinks himself awake in the morning light. Right, they’re outside, coming back from that thing–right. He yawns and sits up; he’s never been slow to rise. Years as head chef on a pirate ship mean he’s generally up first.

Sure enough, everyone else is asleep. It’s false dawn, so it’s to be expected. He gets up anyway, stretching and looking around.

The fire’s gone out; someone must’ve banked it last night. He goes over to check on Ace, but the kid is curled into as small a ball as possible. The blanket’s ridden up over his feet, though, and Thatch can see jagged black streaks even from here. He steps forward, intending to tug the blanket down, but he can’t get close; the air around Ace is painfully hot.

Well, Marco can do it when he wakes up, Thatch decides. He’s got some time to kill, anyway; may as well take a walk. He might find a good place to watch the sunrise from; that’d be nice.

Well, he doesn’t see the sunrise, but he does find a tree with a bunch of those lovely purple fruits they had back in town. He picks enough to hand around for breakfast and a few more to take back to Pops.

By the time he gets back, everyone’s awake and up. “Good morning!” he says, and starts throwing fruits at people.

Haruta catches the first one in the face, but everyone else manages to grab theirs out of the air. Namur tosses his right back, and Thatch catches it easily and passes it on to Marco to give to Ace.

He drops the rest on his blanket and rolls them up carefully to take back. When he makes room in his sack, though, his fingers come across a marker that’s always at the bottom of his pack, and he takes it out before packing the fruit in.

He walks it through his fingers as he wanders over to Marco, who’s standing above Ace. “How is he?”

Marco makes a face and together they stare down at the blanket-covered kid. “You gotta get up eventually,” Thatch tells him.

The unhappy grumbling and shifting says that Ace does not agree, and the heat he’s putting out is enough to stop Thatch from trying to, uh, help. “Look, we’ll all turn away or something, okay? You can keep the blanket.”

Ace doesn’t move, and Thatch gives up. “You do it, Marco,” he says. “You’re the fireproof one.”

“I’m not fireproof.” Marco says even as he walks right into the heat haze like it’s nothing.

“Sure,” Haruta says, walking by, and Thatch catches their wrist. “Hey, what’re you–”

Thatch holds a finger over his lips and then wiggles the marker. Haruta’s eyes light up and they nod. “Yeah, can you–”

“Shhh!”

“We ready, yoi?” Marco walks purposefully between them, trailing what’s probably Ace. Hard to tell under the blanket cloak, but there’s one hand poking out to clutch it closed with a bold BRAT across the back of it.

Thatch darts his eyes away, feeling kind of bad. He hadn’t meant to read it, really, but it’s hard not to. He lets Ace and Marco go first, shouldering his pack and falling in step with Haruta.

There’s more black peeking out of the top of Ace’s boots where the blanket doesn’t quite cover, and Thatch keeps his gaze anywhere else. It’s an awkward kind of quiet, much different from yesterday’s bawdy jokes and loud off-key marching songs. Now the only sounds are the nature around them and occasional violent sneezes.

Haruta tugs at his sleeve, and they pass the marker back and forth for awhile. Thatch waves it behind them and Vista reaches out to take it, too. He promptly tries to use it on Namur, and there’s a quick scuffle.

It’s loud enough for Marco to turn around, though. He walks backwards for a few steps, looking them all over. “Everything okay, yoi?”

“Just fine,” Haruta lies breezily.

Marco stares at them for a few steps, so Thatch makes a spinny-finger gesture at him. He huffs but complies, and leans in a bit to mutter something to the Ace-like thing shambling along beside him. It’s probably about how dumb they are, but that’s okay.

“How does he do it?” Vista asks. “I can feel the heat from all the way back here.”

Ace sneezes again and said heat flares, and everyone but Marco flinches and falls back a few steps. “Marco likes fire,” Thatch says, hoping he’s right. “He doesn’t mind. Probably feels right at home.”

“Any hotter and he’s gonna combust,” Haruta mutters, and like their words were a trigger, Ace sneezes once again, the heat flares, and the blanket on his back catches fire.

They all jump and Vista says something exceptionally nasty. Marco moves in, hands hovering uselessly, and Ace whips the blanket off to beat out the flame.

Thatch wasn’t expecting it, really, which is why he doesn’t look away in time–that’s totally why. It’s not his fault, he knows, and yet when his eyes catch on the giant letters across the back of Ace’s shoulders, above his tattoo, he still feels like he’s betraying something.

He feels that for the whole time it takes to unconsciously read and process the word “monster,” and then he just goes still. Ace is turned away, stomping out the flames, and they all know at a glance what exactly it was that Ace hadn’t wanted them to see.

His tattoo stands out as much as ever, but it’s framed now. Monster at the top, all the way across both shoulders, and underneath in a beautiful scrollwork there’s should’ve been drowned at birth.

Thank god you don’t exist crawls down his ribs, and there’s one word sentiments scattered around, all stark and pretty in concept and horrifying in meaning. Thatch, for all his good intentions, can’t bring himself to look away and his ears are full of the echo of Namur’s voice saying, stuff said about you in your hearing that you believe.

“Ace,” Marco says, quiet and hurt, and Ace’s shoulders go rigid under that horrible ink. He turns slowly to face them, smouldering blanket in one fist. There’s defiance in his eyes and mistake across his freckles.

Someone next to Thatch makes a wheezing sound, but he doesn’t look to see who because when Ace turns his head and tilts his chin up in anger, they can all read should do the world a favor and die circling his throat.

He’s a tapestry of horror and cruelty, and it’s all on display. Thatch’s eyes wander and the only remotely positive things he finds are the two brothers, curved dense and close over his heart, and captain curled over one wrist.

And then Ace falters. “What…?” he says, staring at Haruta, and Thatch glances over to where he’d written family across their forehead. He winces now, but it had seemed like such a good idea at the time.

In the face of this, though, their marker attempts look stupid and insulting. “Sorry,” Thatch says, and holds out the marker. “I had it and it seemed like–I’m sorry, I didn’t know….”

Ace blinks at them. “Why would you…?” he asks, confusion plain, and that hurts almost more than the words do. Things you believe, Thatch thinks again, and he’s suddenly angry.

“Because we’re your family, Ace!” he says. “And you were sick and scared of–and we wanted to make it even! And I never had the Scrawl but I do have a marker, and if you don’t believe us enough to get our words on your skin, then cut back the damn heat and I’ll put ‘em there myself!”

Ace’s chin comes down a bit; he’s defensive but actually listening. “It doesn’t…that’s not how it works.”

“Bullshit,” Marco snaps, and Thatch tosses him the marker. He uncaps it and steps in, ignoring Ace’s flinch. “If what’s true is on your skin, yoi, then what’s on your skin is true.” And he writes family, big and bold, under his left collarbone and right over you’re a curse.

“Loved,” Thatch lists, and Ace flinches again but stays still while Marco grabs his arm to write that over print small enough that Thatch can’t read it from here.

“Cute,” Haruta adds, and Ace goes a deeper red than a fever would account for. Marco nods and puts it right under the double brother.

“Hey now,” he says, trying to pull away, but Marco’s not having it. “Hey!” he says again, but he’s not struggling, and when Marco pulls at his shoulder to spin him around, he goes.

His shoulders are tense and high when Marco puts marker to skin, but as Whitebeard goes over monster, he relaxes a bit. “This really isn’t–”

Marco draws a long line through the awful sentence below his tattoo, and then does a few more just to black it out completely. He sets to work crossing out things and writing better ones, and Ace stands there, still holding the blanket, and lets him.

And then Vista shakes himself and says, “Give him a tramp stamp.”

“What?!”

“Oh, yes, do!” Haruta adds. “Make it say ‘pretty’!”

“No!” Ace says, stepping forward and turning. “No, that’s not–we’re done…!” He’s still surrounded by a heat haze that makes it impossible to approach, but Marco steps forward anyway.

“Come back here, yoi,” he says, and Ace tries to flee.

He makes it a few steps before Marco tackles him and sits on his legs. He puts the marker to work again as Ace claws at the ground and yells about how pretty he isn’t, and he only stops to sneeze three times.

“When you’re not too hot to approach, you can return the favor,” Namur points out, and when Ace immediately goes quiet he adds, “but it was Thatch’s idea!”

“Was not!” Thatch squawks, turning on him. “Haruta drew first!”

“You gave me the marker!”

“You used it!”

And it’s the dumbest argument Thatch has had in a long time, because yeah, he’s obviously at fault. He’s got idiot on one forearm and brother on his wrist and all right at cooking, I guess, on the back of his neck in permanent marker, but up ahead, Ace is laughing, and that’s more than worth it.

More scrawl fic: (ASL as kids) (Adult!Sabo)

#portgas d. ace #thatch #the whitebeard pirates #i need a better asks tag #mark for mark au #answer in the form of a story

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rockingthegraveyard · 7 years

Note

"send me a ship" saboace and marcoace, or mas if you havent done that already? ty

Sorry this took a while!! As you can see I got a bit carried away on some of them.

I hope you don’t mind I just do MAS it would have taken me too long to do all three and I probably would have lost steam. I really went off the rails on this first one. What can I say, I love my werewolf aus. Okay, okay, so, like…I got into all of them really. I love AUS okay!!

(it’s long so I’m gonna put it all under a cut)

who’s the werewolf and who’s the hunter

Okay so there are four classes:

Human - Average humans are generally clueless of the underground supernatural network.

Hunter - Hunters track down and often eliminate with extreme prejudice.

SOI (Supernatural Occurrence Investigator) - SOI, investigates any violent deaths that have supernatural connections to put away or in extreme cases, kill any rogue creatures who kill for pleasure. Or those who risk outing other creatures. They generally helps dissuade some hunters but for the most part the two are still at odds with one another.

Supernatural creature - And of course creatures which consist of various beings such as werewolves, vampires, harpies and more. They all have an underground society in a sense.

Sabo is a human. He is not apart of a hunting family but they do support hunters in various ways.Ace is, of course, the werewolf. A born werewolf, which is not common now-a-days since born are the only ones who can “infect” another individual on any given time when means they’re hunted vigorously.Marco a member of SOI. His family is big and filled with supernatural being and human. So he does the one thing he can to help insure a safer life for both parties of his family.

Sabo learned about the supernatural through Ace, which means it was very limited. Ace had been taken away as a baby and raised away from his kind by humans. So everything Ace learned about himself, he had to do on his own. Rouge was a born werewolf and Roger was a bitten but Rouge was killed by a hunter as well as Roger but he was able to bargain with the lingering hunter (Garp) to take care of their son. No child deserved to be killed just because of what he is after all.

Like in canon Sabo isn’t happy at home and runs off on a daily basis into the woods on the edge of town where he meets Ace. It doesn’t take long for them to form their strong bond and for Ace to divulge what he is. (Luffy joins in somewhere in there, he’s half dragon, I know, pretty ironic for his dad). Unfortunately, when Sabo’s father looks into where his son keeps running off to, it doesn’t take much for the people he sends to figure out what Ace is. He is young and reckless after all.

When they attack Ace, (this is where Ace learns about hunters and Sabo learns his family’s connection to them) they all run off across the mountain and into New World City (idk man). They stick pretty close to the woods still but live in the city. Ace works at a bar and picks up odd jobs on the side, Sabo works part time while still going to school. Luffy goes to school for the most part.

At some point another werewolf gets wind of the family Sabo had once belonged and to him, once associated with hunters, always so. And goes to attack Sabo. This is where Marco shows up, dragging Sabo out of danger but before he can confront the rogue werewolf Ace appears to fight and eventually chase him off. Of course he instantly turns on Marco but Sabo is quick to intervene because, come on Ace, it’s rude to threaten someone who saved me.

When Marco asks for a registry Ace only has his ID because he’s completely clueless about what else this Soy guy (SOI) is asking for. Marco is assuming Ace is bitten and the underground society try their best to find each one and keep tabs on them to help them through the first rough patches and to prevent them from hurt anyone or drawing in hunters attention. Most born have better control by the time their five then most first bitten do at any age. So they avoid this kind of attention, not to mention even in among various SOI districts, born werewolves cause many concern if they go around changing others.

Being clueless to anything supernatural really, Marco is now stuck explaining their whole world basically to this cute werewolf and equally cute human friend. You know what, this could take a while, lets do it over some coffee. I know a witch that brews the best vanilla latte.

who’s the mermaid and who’s the fisherman

Ten year of age is when Sabo and Ace decide they will try to become proper fishermen. Going out early in the morning in a small boat out of shore no one ever uses. Sabo, who is more academically inclined has read up on it. He feels like he’ll get the hang of it just fine. And they do alright for kids the first time around. Sabo is, though he won’t admit it, a little surprised and jealous that Ace does better than him. Ace has a lot of patience when it comes to hunting, looks like fishing is no different.

Sometimes Ace gets paranoid, insists someone is watching them. He was more ‘in tune’ with his instincts, or so he says. Sabo is quick to roll his eyes except when they’re out on the water. Mainly because sometimes he feels it too. It wasn’t until the weather turned bad in seconds and the waves rolls beneath them that they realized how correct Ace was. They’re both excellent swimmers but when Ace is knocked out of the boat and doesn’t resurface, Sabo panics. He wants to dive in after him but their small boat is pushed to the rocks.

Boatless and now stuck on jagged rocks he feels utterly helpless. Throwing caution into the wind, he’s ten seconds from trying to clear the waves that will smash him back into the rocks when two bodies are thrown right on him. Ace is there, he’s okay, he’s coughing which means he’s breathing. This new blond kid is there too, he must have saved Ace and he’s so, so grateful and holy shit is that tail?!

And so it starts, the two boys and their mermaid friend, Marco. Marco who helps them fish and sits on their boat with them and swims with them. Who shares stories of the ocean, the creatures there, his large family of other mermaids. He describes them and they’re all so different. But Sabo and Ace hope to meet them someday, even his father, who is as large as a whale Marco says.

In turn Sabo and Ace sit with Marco on the shore. They tell him of their lives, their little brother and his friends. They tell him the troubles of humans but the small good things to come to them as well. Sabo talks about his parent’s selfishness and how sad he is with them. Ace doesn’t talk about his family who is no longer around anyways. Sabo explains that the reason Ace seems so angry is because he is used an an outlet because of who is father is. Ace is angry because he’s hurt. Being hurt is a concept all three of them know too well.

Neither of them can really place as they grew up just when they fell in love.

who’s the witch and who’s the familiar

Sabo is the witch and Ace is the most frustrating familiar to have ever existed. Sabo is sure he accidentally cursed himself instead when he happened upon Ace, who came from out of nowhere it seemed. From his reading, familiars are suppose to be your guide, he is sure he didn’t summon a demon or a fairy, or at least Ace claims he isn’t. But a good portion of the time Ace is less than helpful. That’s not to say he doesn’t try, because he does and that in sort is part of the problem. In terms of protection it was something Ace could never let him down on. Magic however was a whole other story.

The best or worst, they’re not really sure which, case was when Sabo made to summon a bird to carry messages long distances for him and with Ace’s help he accidentally summoned and entrapped and very shocked phoenix instead. One thing Ace had excelled in, was elemental magic, more specifically fire. Sabo reasons that might have had something to do with the frustrated fire bird now bound to him. They are both very apologetic and struggled to find an incantation to break the bond.

Not that either of them would admit it but they were surprised when the phoenix, Marco, transformed with a burst of beautiful blue flames into an equally beautiful man. Sabo scolds himself for being surprised considering Ace is constantly shifting forms on a regular basis. Even with the extra set of eyes Marco provided it took them a whole month to break the bond. By then Marco was no longer angry and Ace and Sabo were sad to see him go.

They had only sulked about it for a week when Marco reappeared. He couldn’t in good conscious leave them alone after all, not when both of them had so much to learn. Marco was no longer bonded and was free to come and go as he pleased. Sabo and Ace were happy that their little hut on the mountain was one of the places he went to the most.

who’s the barista and who’s the coffee addict

With Ace’s medication he can’t have caffeine, or at least he’s not suppose to. Not suppose to have it aside, medication be damned on rare occasions he can’t help but down a huge cup of Izo’s special vanilla latte. (This action is always followed with regret, will he ever learn?) It’s why being a barista is such a confusing choice for him but he love it. Marco, his co-worker, is addicted. Family is in a constant state of worry, has anyone checked his resting heart rate? No way it’s normal. But that’s just how it is a The Whitebeard Cafe.

No one rivals Marco’s coffee intake, no one but Sabo from Revolution Books across the street. He always comes in during Marco or Ace’s shift. He stays longer if both of them are there. They all assume he is ordering a bunch of coffee for his co-workers. However he’s been here chatting with Marco and Ace for the past ten minutes, he finished one cup and is now drinking another. He’s eaten two of the pastries. Did he notice with Ace ate the third? Does he care? Does he even realize there are more than two people working here.

Thatch and Izo are very embarrassed over Marco swooning so helplessly and Ace, the blind dork. Ace is so oblivious or these two people openly flirting with him the entire time. Izo is getting real tired of Ace sulking, pretending to be happy that Sabo and Marco make such a perfect fit. Goddammit Ace, do you use your eyes?

Koala is getting really tired of Sabo coming back just seconds before his break ends with no pastries AGAIN and her coffee half gone. One of these days she’s gonna have to go get them herself and see just who these two “perfect” guys her idiot is fawning over.

who’s the professor and who’s the TA

Ace is the professor. He is spacey and his organization skills appear to be a mess but he’s good at interacting with his students. Especially the ones that are having the toughest time because he was there too. He complains about the workload all the time and complains that it’s never quiet but he really loves it.

Marco is in the class next door who is completely dedicated and professional and everything is in chaos. His desk is somehow even worst than Ace’s. Only there is no order among it. While class is in Ace has a tendency to be sitting in the back of the class. No one know when or how he even got there, how can a teacher be so sneaky? Don’t you have your own class to teach?

Sabo is almost a cryptid. Is he a TA for Ace or is he here for Marco? Sometimes he’s there and sometimes he isn’t and the students are left questioning if he’s even real. One student has a friend who goes to another university and she claims she’s seen Sabo there. There are no pictures and somehow whenever someone tries to sneak one something obstructs it. There is a whole club now.

who’s the knight and who’s the prince(ss)

They’re all prince’s!! Marco the Prince of Moby. Sabo the prince of Goa. And Ace the prince of the ruined kingdom of Oro.

Queen Rouge ran away with her son and found refuge in the mountain that bordered the Goa kingdom where she was able to raise her son in secret. Prince Sabo ran away at a young age, found Ace and they quickly became the best and only friends they ever knew. But of course being a prince makes it much harder for Sabo to run away and he goes back willingly after his father started sending out parties to look for him. Ace told Sabo who he was and in return Sabo did the same and so to protect Ace’s identity he went back.

Of course Ace wouldn’t just have that and later trained the the toxic kingdom to become a knight. Specifically to be apart of Prince Sabo’s royal guard. Sabo wasn’t happy of course, at least at first. (Rouge was really not happy but she knew she couldn’t stop her son.) But Sabo being the prince has some sway and was able to keep Ace as close to him as possible. Ace is knighted and honestly, neither of them are really happy about it but Ace had reached his goal. Just in time to watch as Sabo’s father starts looking for suitors for his son.

In comes Marco, the prince of Moby who is here on behalf of his father to see if they could strike up a trading route between the two kingdoms. This is where he meets the handsome, prince with his sad smile and the stoic and equally beautiful knight. As Marco tries to strike a deal with the impossibly frustrating king, he gets to know Sabo and Ace. Gets to know how Sabo dreads the arranged marriage. To witness the small, almost unnoticeable affectionate touches between prince and knight

He’s caught off guard when Ace asks what he thinks of the once proud kingdom of Oro. He answers honestly, that he remembers vivid warm colors, laughter, the busy market , a boisterous king and beautiful queen. He tells Ace and Sabo who listens in closely that he remembers that above everything he remembers the people were happy under king Roger’s rule. He remarks that it’s a shame that he was burned like it was and that he hoped one day it will be taken away from Akainu’s tyrannical rule. He’s confused when Ace leaves silently and Sabo smiling, still facing the book he had been ‘studying’.

When Marco is set to take his leave, the negotiations failing to have gone anywhere, he makes the most of his last private time with Sabo and Ace. He tells them quietly to wait ten days from his departure, to gather the minimum. He tells them that they don’t have to say goodbye forever, that in ten days he will be waiting in the small village of Foosha. Ace and Sabo listen as he tells them that Moby is accepting of all those in need of a place and a fresh start no matter who they are or the families they once belonged too. And in ten days Goa was without it’s prince and his loyal knight.

who’s the teacher and who’s the single parent

Sabo is the teacher. It’s messy and the children are loud but he love his job with all his heart.

Ace isn’t a single parent but he’s treated like it. People generally give him pity looks, must have been a teen parent? Where is the mother they wonder but never pry. But it’s not like that Ace is taking care of his adopted little brother because he’s guardians do a piss poor job honestly. So he took Luffy and struggles to get him to school on time, more or not making himself late for his own classes.

Marco is a dad in all but blood. He watches carefully and cleans up after Thatch’s cooking adventures. Lets Izo paint his face in makeup from cheap glittery pink cases. Marco struggles to keep Namur from drowning himself in the park fountain and Haruta from stuffing her pockets full of frogs. He gets all four of them to school before work and picks them up from his father’s home after.

And when Haruta gets into a fight at school he patiently waits with the kind teacher while the other kid and his parents run late. Haruta is left to play with the toys in the classroom and Marco is left to chat with the teacher who apologizes for the other’s lateness. It doesn’t take a genius to know that the kid Haruta fought with got in trouble a lot for the teacher, Sabo he insisted to know the other enough to apologize for them.

Only Marco seems to be startled when the door burst open with a young man struggling to catch his breath and a child slung under his arm. Of course Marco, the private of his own mind thinks how unfair it is that both teacher and this man are incredibly cute. He’s even more surprised when the child is thrusted forward and made to apologize for stealing Haruta’s food and the kid, Luffy, does so eagerly with a genuine smile that rivals the sun.

When Haruta accepts the apology in seconds, all three adults are left while the two children begin to play. Marco feels like he got almost too worked up over the possibilities and now it seems like a waste to be here but he can’t bring himself to pull Haruta away from Luffy in the middle of their game. He finds it really nice when all three adults sit down to talk and when he walks away with a promise to see them another time he can’t help but think this is the best student/teacher meeting he ever had.

who’s the writer and who’s the editor

Sabo is the writer and Marco is his editor. They’ve been working to get this book done, long hours and hard work put into every sentence written and edited. The amount of caffeine share between them as they’ve gone over things is staggering. They’re almost done just a few things here and there corrected. This taken out while this put back in only to be taken out and then revised.

Ace is the best friend who throws out ideas, a lot of them are brushed aside, some are taken into consideration. And sometimes he’ll ask a question and Sabo finds himself at 3am, downing his third cup of coffee and completely rewriting chapter twelve. Marco slightly concerned when Sabo shows him the new and improved chapter with bloodshot eyes and hair wild until he sees Ace casually strolling behind him. Then it clicks, of course and he takes the chapter from Sabo’s clammy hands and forces him to take a nap on his couch.

And there you have it. I hope you enjoyed them!

#MAS #Portgas D. Ace #Marco the Phoenix #Sabo #One Piece #Anonymous #ask #Ship meme #tell me your favorite

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