And here's part two! It has gotten a bit longer than the first, but I doubt anyone minds. Enjoy!

It was good Ace and Sabo had sparred a lot the past few months, Sabo thought grimly. If they hadn't, the sheer rush of adrenalin would surely have cost her everything.

Her plan had worked better than she'd dared hope. Teach's head was now decorating the landscape, as well as two of his shocked crewmates. Sabo was so, so glad Ace had gotten her those bags full of rare seastone bullets. She wasn't sure her shot would have had enough of an effect otherwise.

For a single moment, all was dead quiet. In the silence, the echoes of her shot bouncing off the surrounding mountains were loud and clear.

Then her serpents struck, and all hell broke loose.

The remaining Blackbeard Pirates were stupefied by the whiplash of emotion she'd inflicted on them. Going from a victorious high to the horrifying surprise of the sudden death of their Captain looked like a painful turnabout. The additional shock of suddenly getting attacked by venomous snakes only worsened the chaos.

Their floundering was quite satisfying. And one of them shouting about 'fate turning against them' was nothing short of hilarious. If the situation had been different Sabo would have laughed herself sick over that one.

Instead Sabo made full use of the disorder to fire her pistol as well, by some miracle managing another headshot. This time the sniper, as he was likely the quickest to cotton on to what was happening, and posed the greatest danger to her. Sabo preferred to be the one with the long-distance attacks, not be the target of them. His cremates didn't seem to notice, too busy panicking over their Captain's corpse and their bite marks.

Perfect.

She sent in her third wave of attacks to give herself time to reload. Hundreds of birds and insects dove for the pirates with a scream, bodies pitch black and made impervious to most blows. They attacked the pirates like starving wolves a flock of sheep.

Chaos, panic, disaster. The Blackbeard Pirates proved rather incapable of reacting promptly in the face of those.

Disappointing, but oh well. Their pain, her gain. Yohoho.

Sabo noticed that her fingers were trembling like reeds, almost making her drop her bullets. She grit her teeth and steadied them through sheer force of will.

Ready once again, she quickly fired two more shots, one that hit and one that didn't. The former didn't kill, but dealt a wound that should still slow her opponent down considerably.

She never got time for a third round. The remaining pirates realized where she was hiding and rushed at her, screaming madly all the way.

It was a good thing she had taken the time to gather the serpents, Sabo thought grimly as she reached out with her mind to take over Doc Q's horse. The pirates were without a doubt dangerous, but they were already staggering from the overdose of highly potent venom, and her animals were effective in scattering their attention. If all else failed, all she needed was time for the venom to do its work…

The remaining Blackbeards seemed determined to deny her that though.

Sabo had just enough time to hurriedly put her guns away and reach for her staff. She raised it in a defence so nostalgic it almost made her smile. She hastily dodged a massive chunk of a house being hurlde at her, and spread a thick layer of Haki over her skin, most of it hidden by her clothes and gloves.

One more second of surprise, Sabo prayed. Fear scrabbled with hundreds of tiny claws at the inside of her skin as the three were almost upon her.

One more, and maybe she could win.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Later, Sabo wouldn't be able to recall much of the fight. Just endless heartbeats of terror and adrenalin and sheer protective fury so hot it seared the air in her lungs and made her chest ache.

She would remember Laffitte, swooping down like a white-winged demon, a pistol in hand and his cane brandished like a rapier.

She would remember Burgess coming at her like an rampaging elephant. Furious and determined to crush her to paste, her Haki barely able to stand up to his blows the few times she was too slow to dodge.

She would remember Doc Q, and his rage when his horse betrayed him, his illness greatly diminishing his mobility and thus making him the least of her worries.

Mostly, she would remember pain though, and a deep, deep sense of victory when she managed to win by the skin of her teeth.

Then her injuries presented the bill for her daring, and she had to spend many, many long moments on her knees, praying for her body to quit screaming at her.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ow. ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. The former noblewoman's breath hissed sharply between her teeth as she limped to where her brother's unconscious form was laying, having finally managed to stand up from where she had fallen. Fatigue dragged at every step. Blood stained her hands and clothes, and she pressed a hand against her side where Laffitte had almost spit her on his cane when she lost track of him for a heart-stopping three seconds. If it hadn't been for her many eyes, he would have been a far tougher opponent. But even weakened with venom and cast in intense emotional turmoil, his stealth and ability to fly had made him a terrifying enemy.

Sab was so, so grateful Von Augur kept his rifle loaded. The bullet hadn't been seastone, but fortunately, Laffitte hadn't been a logia. Catching him in his swoop had been a trick and a half though. She had probably used up all her luck with shooting for the foreseeable future.

Maybe she would keep the rifle, Sabo mused, drunk on adrenaline and relief and the poisons produced by intense exhaustion. It had handled wonderfully well. And hey, she was a pirate now. Pirates did that kind of thing, didn't they?

At least she had been able to keep Burgess and Doc Q from attacking her at the same time as Laffitte by steering Doc Q's horse into the wrestler's path. Burgess had even been upset enough to kill Doc Q and his horse for her when he got frustrated with them for interfering with his attempts to murder the killer of his Captain.

Sabo might have felt sorry for Doc Q if the man hadn't been a Blackbeard Pirate.

The loyalty the pirates had displayed towards Teach had been quite impressive, actually, in a disturbing, obsessive way. If she hadn't detested them for everything they had done and stood for, Sabo might have been able to respect that.

Instead, she was just fervently grateful that she managed to pull through without dying in the process.

Sabo thanked the gods that her chaos had been great enough that the Blackbeards had forgotten about Ace. Her greatest fear – that they would realize the relation between her brother and her and threaten him like her father had done – had miraculously not come to pass.

She let herself collapse next to her brother. Owww, she whined mentally. She glared at the seastone shackles around Ace's wrists with distaste. She was most certainly going to keep her gloves on with her snakes still so near. No way was she going to risk getting bitten if her Devil Fruit suddenly stopped working. She picked the most venomous ones she could find for a reason, and that reason was not to experience the joys of their venom for herself.

Where did that bastard traitor even get seastone shackles?

Huh. Probably during a raid. Gods knew that merry band of murderers had been busy practising and building a reputation by ransacking as many places as they could.

Her mice were already busy looking for the keys. Such good little mice they were. They deserved a ton of cheese.

Sabo grit her teeth and pushed herself up to check on Ace's injuries. Her arms ached from blocking blows, and honestly, it was a miracle nothing appeared to be broken after Burgess' onslaught. She relished in using the medical supplies Teach had intended to use for himself to patch up her brother and herself.

Sabo spread her awareness wide while she was slowly bandaging the wound in her side with trembling fingers, her birds circling up high to overview the island and splitting up in patrols to watch the coast. The villagers were still in the same spot, obviously not daring to return until they were absolutely sure the danger had passed.

It was tiring, to scatter her attention like that and still remain focused on the different tasks, but after taking such ruthless advantage of her enemies' inattention herself she could not allow herself to fall into the same complacent mindset like the Blackbeard Pirates had done.

'At the moment of victory, tighten the straps of your helmet', and all that rot.

It was a good thing she did too, because shortly after she was done with her own most pressing wounds and started on Ace's, ships appeared on the horizon.

Marine ships. Five of them.

Sabo cursed, movements becoming frantic. Her anxiety shattered her concentration like spun glass, made worse by the tiredness that clung like lead to her bones. She paused for one heartbeat, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply. Harshly pulling the broken strands of her concentration back together, she set her jaw and put as many animals as she could to work.

Where were those damn keys?!

Sabo worked as fast as she could to ensure the injuries Teach dealt weren't about to kill her brother. The result was sloppy, but serviceable.

She hoped Ace didn't mind being a mummy for a while.

Another glance through bird eyes. Sabo swore. The marines were approaching fast. Damn Ace and Teach and their stupidly violent fight. She should have known the clash would draw marine attention.

Then again, one of the villagers could have done the smart thing and taken a den den mushi with them and called for help. She should have kept a better eye on them.

The marine ships had already covered nearly half the distance. They were fast.

Sabo would later admit she flat out panicked then.

She slung her brother over her shoulder, tucked Blackbeard's med kit under her arm, checked she still had her weapons while resolutely ignoring how everything from her twisted ankle and bruised shoulders to her sides and back screamed pain and abuse at her, and ran.

Some of her animals scampered after her, carrying small miscellaneous items that might just prove useful. And Ace's hat. Ace would never forgive her if she forgot his hat.

Her loyal little mice stayed behind, still attempting to break into all of Blackbeard's pockets and pouches in an attempt to find the keys to Ace's chains.

It was a good thing the Striker was moored a good distance from the soon-to-be landing place of the marines. It wasn't quite on the other side of the island, but far enough away that they might just have a chance to escape.

Sabo had no choice but to try even if her chances were lousy. She sure as hell wasn't going to wait for the marines to catch up to them. Polly and Cyper were already prying at the knots in the mooring lines, not releasing the little ship entirely but enough to shorten the time needed to cast off.

While running, she kept a careful eye on the approaching ships. The marines' approach was slowing down, not able to maintain their previous speed if they didn't want to shipwreck on the rocky cliffs. Sabo was glad for every extra minute.

Time to see exactly what she was dealing with. With a deep breath, she extended her reach towards all the small animals she knew had to be aboard the marine vessels.

"- with a bit of luck the pirates will be easy pickings!" a marine officer was shouting, loud and clear as he addressed the men assembled on the deck.

Sabo was really starting to love mice. Almost as much as she loved birds. It was a pity insects were still iffy. Their senses were just too different to mesh with the others easily.

"Fire Fist will be there, sir," a lower ranked officer pointed out respectfully. There was a trace of trepidation in his words and stance.

The other officer grunted. "Don't you worry," he said boisterously. "It was obviously a hard fight. With a bit of luck, he won't be in any shape to resist arrest!"

The loudly delivered statement did not stop the majority of the marines from shifting nervously in their parade rests.

Halfway up in one of the many passages through the Banaro Mountains, Sabo clenched her jaw and kept marching. She silently thanked Ace for his volatile reputation. Caution would slow the marines down. She just wished her brother was as much of a threat right now as the marines thought he was.

"Idiot. Wake up already. One good pillar of fire could keep them pinned waiting for reinforcements," she grumbled. Ace did not respond beyond a slight grunt when she had to jump off a ledge to get to the next part off the winding path quicker.

Sabo was very worried. She still hadn't found the keys. If this kept up she would be forced to leave without freeing her brother. Which would mean Ace would be bound and unable to defend himself until they could find a different way of removing them.

She was starting to think she was searching the wrong body. She couldn't imagine Blackbeard entrusting anyone but himself with the key to Ace's chains, but she didn't know him very well. She might be mistaken.

Quickly, Sabo deployed some of her little rodents to the other corpses.

She really, really wanted her brother free.

With that thought in mind, she divided her attention once again, this time in search of creatures capable of pulling their small ship.

Without Ace's flames she couldn't use the Striker's engine. They would have better chances if they weren't dependent on wind alone to make their escape.

This was such a pain in the ass.

When Ace woke up, Sabo promised herself, she was going to yell at him. Loudly. Right in his ear. Would serve him right, the idiot.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Above the dark of the deep sea, a tiny speck rushed across dancing waves, escorted both above and below by the children of ocean and sky. Waves pushed, gently and curiously, at that tiny speck which was barely more than a little floating fragment of cork, lost and alone in the vastness of the heart that stirred the world's lifeblood.

The wind hummed, running breezy fingers through the entourage. The feathered children scattered before returning to their positions, like kites on strings.

There was another entourage, further in the distance. The wind huffed, swirling consideringly, and then playfully flew.

Waves and wind laughed at the curses it raised.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

For the sixth time that day, Sabo checked the lines. The pod of sailfish she had employed to pull the Striker were proving to be incredibly strong and fast. They were making good time, but the marines were pulling together already, spreading word that a Whitebeard Commander might be easy pickings right now.

Damn that Burgess and damn herself. She hadn't thought one of the Blackbeard Pirates had still been alive when she left.

The fact that one had been long enough to tell the marines how vulnerable they were had made their position incredibly precarious. The marines weren't going to give up now they knew how hurt Ace was.

The only good thing was that the Blackbeard Pirate had died from her venom before he could inform the marines of her Devil Fruit ability. It was her only saving grace right now, allowing her to spy on marine communications and move the Striker at speeds the marines did not expect. It helped that the wind favoured her right now. Her sailfish allowed her to sail independent of wind and currents, unlike the marine warships, which did not possess that luxury.

Still. Burgess' petty vengeance could come to cost their little crew of two dearly. The marines were incredibly motivated to catch her brother.

Sabo refused to acknowledge how precarious her position was, or how tired she was feeling. Instead she focussed entirely on gathering as much intel as she could cheat, steal and borrow from the lives around her so she could manoeuvre around the marine ships without getting spotted.

It had been tricky and an idea born entirely out of desperation, but she had figured out how to hijack den den mushi. Her own had been a great help in that. It took concentration, and focussing her ability on a different wavelength than she usually used, but by reaching through her own den den mushi Sabo had succeeded in picking up other den den mushi's telepathic radio waves. Already, this new skill had proven invaluable to escape the marines' coordinated search.

What she overheard did not fill her with confidence. The marine authorities were taking far too much interest in the chase.

Eyes lidded, she listened closely.

"Report, Lieutenant!" a gruff voice barked.

"Sir! I am afraid we still have no results to report, sir. Fire Fist is no longer present at Banaro Island, but we have not been able to determine yet where he went," a younger voice responded dutifully.

This far away, Sabo was entirely dependent on her den den mushi to transmit her ability beyond her usual range, and since her den den did not transmit visual signals Sabo could not see the marines' faces. All she had were voices in the distance, and only the vaguest sense for how near or far they were.

"Keep searching. All bases have been alerted. If they are anywhere near, those pirates will be spotted and reported. We cannot allow them to escape."

"Yes sir! We have deployed the ships. What shall we do if we find them, sir?"

"Report back to me. I will coordinate their arrest. Fire Fist is dangerous and we do not know enough about his companion. Proceed with caution, but do not let them escape. Their arrest will be a victory for the marines."

"As you command, sir. I will inform the Captains of your orders."

Sabo opened her eyes and met her den den mushi's eyes. "This is a problem," she told the snail.

The den den blinked back. The snail didn't look too good. Sabo's face softened. "All this traveling has been hard on you, huh?"

The den den leaned against her. Sabo petted it gently and offered it some of the bits of greenery she had collected specifically for the snail. She sighed as the den den mushi ate.

"We really are in a lot of trouble," she groaned. She looked at her brother, who was laying wrapped in both his long coat and her cloak in the hollow interior of the Striker. He was still unconscious and far too cold now he no longer had access to his Devil Fruit. His injuries had taken a great toll, and the seastone sapping all energy from his body had resulted in some of his injuries getting infected. His breathing was laboured as he slept fitfully. A truly spectacular bruise had bloomed to life on his neck and Sabo was fairly sure a few of his ribs were broken.

Sabo ran a hand through her hair. She hadn't gotten around to rebraiding it after her fight with the Blackbeards and subsequent rushed retreat, leaving it a tangled nest of barely-held together strands. She sighed.

"I need help," she admitted to the snail. "I can't keep running blindly."

That was the crux of the matter, wasn't it? She didn't know where to go, so all she could do was run.

Sabo bit her lip. Looked through her eagles' eyes. No marine ships could be seen, but she did not doubt they were nearby.

She would have to take a gamble, Sabo decided.

Again.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

"purupurupurupuru-"

k-chack. "Hello, Twelfth Division Commander Haruta here."

"Hello, Commander Haruta. I am Sabo. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Do you have a white den den mushi and is any call you make with a white den den mushi secure?" a somewhat impatient woman's voice answered. Haruta was fairly sure he had never heard this voice before.

"… Is this a prank call?" Haruta asked, eyeing the den den mushi suspiciously.

"No. But I need the line to be as secure as possible before I can tell you why I called."

Haruta decided to humour this strange caller. A bit of conversation with a stranger was quite welcome, the mood on board being what it was. "Depends on whether the den den mushi on the other side has a white den den too or is just an ordinary one. Former is more secure than the latter."

"But in the latter's case we are still less likely to be overheard?"

"It will be a lot harder for a black den den mushi to intercept the signal, yes."

"Good. Then please call me back with a white den den mushi. I want to speak with you about Portgas D Ace."

Haruta's eyebrows jumped for his hairline, but the mysterious Sabo hung up before he could get a word in. he was left staring dumbfounded at the snail in front of him.

Well. That was… interesting. He huffed, shaking his head, not sure what to make of the odd call.

Confused and with a strange, uncomfortable feeling settling in his gut, Haruta fetched the Moby's white den den mushi and send some of his men to tell the Commanders to assemble in Pops rooms. If nothing else, he was sure the others would be just as curious as he was what this stranger would have to say about their youngest brother.

"What is the matter, my son?" was Pops first question when Haruta arrived. His father was well aware Haruta should be on duty, and would not show up with their white den den mushi without a good reason.

"I'm not sure," Haruta admitted. "Just got a strange call. Someone called Sabo. She said she wanted to talk about Ace, but wanted a secure line first."

Pops sat up straighter at that. Haruta could relate. This was the first time they would hear from Ace that wasn't through newspapers or reports from their contacts since the Second Division Commander ran off after Teach months ago.

That this stranger insisted on a secure line was rather foreboding.

"What's going on?" Izou demanded as he swept into the room, Marco and Jozu hot on his heels. Haruta did not miss the concern in their eyes. No one made light of meetings like these anymore since Thatch's death.

"In a moment," Haruta answered, not wanting to repeat himself endlessly.

Once everyone had arrived, Haruta repeated what he had told Pops.

"She didn't say anything else?" Izou asked with narrowed eyes.

Haruta shook his head.

"Well, let's call then," Marco decided. From the tight set of his eyes, Haruta knew his older brother had a bad feeling about this too.

Waiting for the call to connect was nerve-wracking, for all that it only took a few seconds.

"Hello?"

The single word was enough to tell the crewmates a couple of things about their mystery caller that had caught Haruta off guard too: the woman was tired, wary, and sounded surprisingly sophisticated and well-mannered for someone who apparently had no qualms about calling a Yonko's crew about one of their members. Especially considering the member in question was Ace.

"Hello, Sabo, was it?" Marco answered. "What did you want to say about our little brother?"

"… May I know who I am speaking with?"

"Marco, First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. And before you ask, yes, the line is as secure as we can make it right now."

All of them blinked when instead of getting nervous, the sigh the den den mushi transmitted could only be called relieved. A weak chuckle followed. "'Little brother', huh? I bet Ace loved that. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, First Division Commander. I am calling because, well- That business with Marshall D Teach did not go as smoothly as we had hoped."

"Explain," Pops rumbled.

"… Captain Whitebeard, I presume?"

"You presume correctly. What happened with my son?"

"Hm, simply put: Teach had gotten a lot stronger in the months Ace chased him. I can see why Teach desired the Yami Yami no Mi to the point of murder."

"Are you saying you think Thatch's death was justified?!" Haruta shouted, months filled with grief, anger and concern exploding so suddenly he caught himself by surprise too.

If they hadn't already known Admiral Aokiji had eaten the Hie Hie no Mi, they would have thought Sabo had. Her voice was that frigid when she responded to Haruta's hot-headed accusation. "No. No, I do not. I am merely stating that I can see why the traitor would consider such a power valuable enough to risk so much for. I assumed people like you would understand how easily the promise of power makes beasts out of those vulnerable to its call."

Haruta winched as Sabo's words landed like vampiric butterflies, each light and pretty and with a razor sharp needle that had a stab more painful than a New World wasp, and drew blood more easily than the nurses' syringes. The lightly spoken veiled threats and underlying insinuations did an excellent job of knocking down his inflamed temper easy as popping a bubble. He had never received such a vicious rebuke in such a politely worded package. Especially the ruthless dig at his intelligence beneath the lightly emphasized 'assumed' had been brutal.

He wasn't the only one who was impressed with her verbal skills.

"What happened with Ace?" Marco asked calmly, diverting Sabo's attention away from Haruta. Haruta was embarrassed to be grateful for that. He had the feeling Sabo could flay him alive with words alone if she felt the need to escalate their little exchange. Rather like their head nurse, only more refined.

"Teach won."

Two words, but those two alone were enough to freeze the marrow in all their bones.

Fortunately, Sabo seemed to sense their reaction, because she barely paused her explanation. "Teach knocked Ace out and bound him with seastone. I managed to retrieve Ace but not the key to his chains. The marines showed up before I could."

"… Are you trying to tell us you managed to defeat a man Ace couldn't beat?" Izou asked incredulously.

"Defeat? No. Kill? Yes. I am no fool. Ace fought him and lost. I succeeded where my brother did not by not fighting."

"What did you do?" Pops asked, eyes narrowed.

"Simple. I didn't fight Teach, I murdered him. Teach was arrogant. He did not watch his surroundings after capturing Ace. He forgot that even the strongest Devil Fruit user can be killed by a single seastone bullet."

"… I think you should start at the beginning," Marco said, rubbing his forehead, as thoroughly lost as everyone else. "Who are you exactly and how did you end up joining Ace in the first place? And why would you go out of your way to murder his opponent for him?"

If snails could bristle, the den den mushi just did. "I am his sister. I have known Ace far longer than you, of course I helped him. Ace would not hold back against someone he hated so much, but my brother favours direct confrontations. Even when the person he confronts is too dangerous and treacherous to confront directly. So I made some contingency plans while we travelled."

"You are not one of ours and the only other sister of Ace I am aware of is a noble," Marco shot back, much to the surprise of the other Commanders. For most, this was the first time they heard that Ace had more than one sibling from before he joined at all, let alone her social status. "Not exactly the type to stage a daring rescue."

Sabo barked out a scornful laugh. "Born a noble, maybe, but if Ace told you that much you should also know how much like a normal noble I am not. I have guarded his back since I was five. Like hell would I let him continue hunting a dangerous traitor alone. As for how I ended up joining him-"

With more veiled sarcasm and subtle digs at their intelligence than most of them ever got even from their own siblings, Sabo told them in a few terse sentences how Ace and she met and how she managed to retrieve him from Teach's clutches. It lent credence to her story that Ace and she seemed to have a similar abrasive nature when it came to interacting with people they felt slighted by, even if she was far more eloquent than Ace could ever be.

"How is Ace now?" Pops asked, eyeing the den den mushi thoughtfully. The Commanders were not the only ones who had some surprises to digest. They knew Ace didn't talk much about himself, but they hadn't quite realized how much. Even though Sabo's story was obviously highly abridged and omitted some key details, they had learned more about Ace through her little offhand remarks and longsuffering exasperation than they ever had in a full year's time.

"Ill," Sabo stated bluntly. "I think the seastone has something to do with that. Ace is injured, but he should have woken up by now. Instead he's still out and his injuries are worsening. I couldn't see everything of the fight, but I don't think it is because he hit his head. The seastone in the handcuffs is really draining. I even felt it weaken me through my gloves, which, for your information, are thick enough for me to safely handle a seastone-coated staff. Though the seastone on my staff is a lot less pure than the stuff his cuffs are made off, and a far thinner layer besides. I am- I'm worried."

Sabo's voice broke a little at that last admission, and the Commanders suddenly realized how scared Ace's sister had to be. Alone with an incapacitated brother, no medical backup, and only a few months of sailing experience under her belt, while running for her brother's life from hostile marines. And, from the sound of it, dead on her feet to boot.

A deep breath on the other side. When Sabo spoke again, her voice was rock steady once more. It was impressive how well she was keeping herself together. "That is why I called you. I need to get Ace somewhere safe, and I do not know where I can go. Is there a way to meet up?"

All eyes turned to Marco and Pops. Pops stroked his chin. "Banaro Island, you said? I don't think it's a good idea for you to try to cross into the New World, but we don't have territories in Paradise either."

Patient silence was all that answered him. Pops nodded to himself. "Does Ace still have that leg pouch of his?"

"Yes."

"Good. Check it. There should be a small blank bit of paper stored there."

Across the line, there was the sound of rummaging, as well as a soft groan that put every Whitebeard Pirate on high alert and faint comforting murmurs. Then Sabo said, "I have it." A note of suspicion crept in her voice. "It just moved. Whose vivre card is this?"

A smile curved Pops lips. "Mine," he said easily. "All my Commanders carry a piece."

"Huh. So I just follow this?"

"Yes," Pops confirmed.

"We will follow Ace's," Marco added.

"Good. I- That is a good plan." There was so much raw relief in her voice, every Whitebeard felt a deep sense of sympathy. "Though I thought Ace didn't have another piece of vivre card than the one he gave to Luffy?"

So Ace had given his vivre card to his little brother? Somehow, Haruta utterly failed to be surprised.

"That is what he thought too, probably," Marco replied, a somewhat smug smirk on his face.

A snort. "I see. How long will it take to meet, do you think?"

"Straight on?" Marco hummed, visibly calculating currents and wind and distances. Added a bit more because the Grand Line would no doubt throw them a curveball or two. Grimaced when he realized he had no idea how fast Sabo was travelling. "No idea. That depends too much on the weather. We should be able to return to the first half of the Grand Line in four days or less if all goes well, since we're not that far from Fishman Island at the moment, but I'm not sure how long it will take for us to meet you. You will no doubt lose a lot of time to dodging marines."

"Hm, so plan for a couple of weeks at least," Sabo muttered, a note of displeasure in her voice. None of the Whitbeards could blame her for it. They weren't pleased either, knowing what they did about their younger brother's health. Haruta had the feeling Sabo pulled off a minor miracle when killing the Blackbeard Pirates, and they had no idea if she could protect Ace should the marines manage to catch up with her. She had hinted at having a Devil Fruit ability, but Haruta had no idea how much use it would be.

"Very well then," Sabo said decisively. "I look forward to meeting you."

Pops laughed, a low Gurarara that made the ship tremble around them. "Stay safe on the way! Anyone my son calls his sister is bound to be interesting. It would be a shame if we couldn't meet!"

The smile the den den mushi showed them could almost be called soft. "A shame indeed. Don't you worry about us. I will keep my brother safe," she vowed. Then she hung up.

Haruta blinked. Huh. Done it again. Was that a habit or something? Absently, he realized he wasn't the only one looking surprised by the abrupt end to the conversation.

Pops just laughed again, rumbling something about cheeky brats. Then he became more serious, tapping his tankard on his armrest to draw everyone's attention. His grin held an edge that promised rather unpleasant things for the marines that were hunting one of their own. "Alright, my sons! You heard everything. Set course for Paradise! It's time to fetch your brother!"

Haruta shook his head, smiling as he picked up the den den mushi. Ace's sister, huh? Pops was right. She did sound like an interesting person.

Now he only needed to hope Sabo wasn't like Ace and wouldn't try to kill him for his thoughtless accusation. She sounded posh, but it was obvious she had a fierce temperament.

It probably said a lot about him and the rest of the crew that he was not the only one looking forward to finding out more about their younger brother's wild ex-noble sibling.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo needed a moment to steady herself after hanging up, the sheer relief almost knocking her off her seat on the Striker's engine. For a moment even her grip on her animals slackened, but at the first uncoordinated pull of the sailfish, she reaffirmed her control.

She almost laughed. A goal. She had a goal to aim for. Before she felt like she was floundering around loose in the middle of the ocean – not that far off really – but now she was floundering on the end of a very long line. All she'd need to do was keep following it.

Already, she felt a lot better about her chances.

"You heard that, Ace?" she told her fitfully sleeping brother. "Your crew is coming for us. So just hang on, okay? Just hang on, and I will get you home."

She never got a reply, but that was okay. She clenched the little bit of vivre card in her hand. Ace was going to be just fine.

All she needed to do was keep him alive until they reached his crew.

Oh, and maybe call Makino and Shanks that everything had worked out. Sabo was so glad she had bothered to memorise Makino's den den mushi number as a child, and that Makino had kept hold of Shanks'. Without them, she wouldn't have been able to get hold of the Whitebeard Pirates' number. She owed them a lot.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Staying ahead of the marine search was a lot harder than it sounded, Sabo thought grimly as she inspected another island that was guarded by the marines. They seemed determined to deny her a safe place to dock and gather supplies. There weren't many marines in this town – just a single ship's worth, she estimated – but just one of them spotting her would be enough to betray her location to the rest of the fleet.

Smart, to guard the ports. Smart, and really inconvenient. She had taken down the Whitebeard flag, but it would matter little if someone recognized the Striker. All the marines needed was a clue which way she had gone. Already, they had too much success tracking her simply by having guessed which direction she would be traveling in.

If she hadn't been able to make animals come to her Sabo knew she would have been in a great deal of trouble a long time ago.

But she couldn't put off landing somewhere. Raw fish was an adequate if rather unpalatable food source but she could not last much longer without fresh water. Rainwater and whatever few amounts of fresh water her birds could bring her were a too unreliable source. Not to mention the other things she needed.

Sabo glanced at her brother, chewing on her lip as she thought. She needed medicines and warm blankets. Something soft to put between the cuffs too, to see if a bit of isolation against the drain would help Ace wake up. She couldn't add much without risk of cutting off Ace's blood flow to his hands, but even a little bit might help.

The inflammation of Ace's injuries hadn't gone down, though it hadn't worsened much either. She had no idea how long the status quo would hold. The only thing she could be glad for was that the wounds showed no signs of necrosis or becoming septic.

However, with his immune system otherwise occupied, an illness had taken root. Sabo had no idea which one it was. Some moments Ace was burning up, yet minutes later he could be cold enough to be called hypothermic. The raw fish probably wasn't helping there either.

Not for the first time, Sabo wished she had some way to cook the animals she brought aboard. This diet kept them alive, but it did little to help Ace recover.

Sabo sighed, and directed her scaly draft animals to the dense forest on the other side of the island. Dawn was approaching fast, and she hoped the faint light and the early hour would hide her a little longer. She should still be too far away to be seen by anyone not using a telescope, but she had no desire to take risks.

Sabo yawned and rubbed her eyes. She really, really needed to sleep. She was afraid to do so though. If she slept she would release her hold on her animals. She needed her animals. Her old ones were used to her taking care of them in return for their services so wouldn't stray too far, knowing they could say goodbye to easy meals if they did. But the ones that pulled the Striker she replaced whenever the opportunity arose, not wanting to be left a sitting duck if her animals became too exhausted. Those would no doubt flee the moment they were free.

In the distance, she could feel the reef that guarded the summer island. It was surrounded by swarms of lives, some of them well capable of helping her. There was no predicting whether those would stick around long enough for her to use though.

It galled her, but she knew she had no choice but to take the chance. Ace and she both desperately needed the break.

The forest was dense and dark, with roots reaching deep into the ocean floor beneath. Sabo guided her animals though the maze of vegetation, gigantic boughs casting inky shadows across the water. A hundred yards in, the white crested ocean waves calmed to gentle ripples.

Sabo counted more on the senses of the animals around her than her own eyes to find a safe spot to moor. She didn't dare remain too close to the coast, so she retreated deep into the forest, grateful for the Striker's shallow draft.

In the end, the chaotic minds of a troop of monkeys led her to a spot of dry land between the majestic trees. She tied the Striker securely to a tangle of exposed roots, leaving enough slack for the tide to rise and fall. She had no idea how long she would stay here, but barring intervention, she hoped for a few hours at the least.

The Striker secured, Sabo set to release the sailfish that had pulled them so faithfully for so many days. She sensed their hazy confusion when she released her hold, and an irrational feeling of loss tried to occupy her chest as she felt them set course towards the deep ocean. She ruthlessly shoved it aside.

Instead she reached out to the monkeys and left them to guard Ace while she explored the resources the place she had chosen provided. She could feel every single animal on and around the island, but she still felt better for having the troop as backup.

The forest was far more massive and wet than the forests of Mount Colubo, yet climbing across thick roots and through dense vegetation filled Sabo with an intense feeling of nostalgia all the same. Scavenging came as easy to her as ever despite the hinder of her injuries. With the aid of small rodents and the confusing jumble of senses that were the countless insects in her vicinity, it was easy to find dry wood and a spot just above the high water mark where it should be possible to push a small boulder aside to expose a perfect patch of bare sand for her fire pit.

With a grunt and a flare of Haki, Sabo rolled the massive stone aside. Her eyes crinkled to see what her connection to the insects and worms had already told her.

"Now then, I'm sure I brought some," she muttered to herself as she went digging through the contents of her bag. "Should be around here- Aha!"

With a box of waxed matches in hand and a couple of tree-rats bringing her dry moss and twigs, it was child's play to get a fire started. She was counting on the morning mist to hide the wisps of smoke that rose from the flames.

In the meantime, she reached out with her mind.

She carefully build her fire until soft grunts and snuffles reached her own ears.

Only then did she draw Ace's knife and turned to face the creature she had called to her.

She hated doing this. Hated it, hated it, hated it. Almost as much as she hated her parents and Blackbeard. It felt wrong, like opening up her own veins. A deep, visceral revulsion that had nothing to do with rational arguments, no matter how many could be made.

The bear was monstrously large. Beautiful brown eyes were set in a broad, gentle, disarming face. For all that Sabo was well aware that the massive beast could kill her with a single strike of its paw, she could not help but feel like the lowest creature on earth for what she was about to do.

Sabo took a breath, and set to slaughtering another animal that had no chance to resist her.

It was funny, Sabo mused. Animals thought they were, killing them felt more like murder than shooting Teach ever had.

But Ace was her brother and he needed that fur, and she could use the meat, and when it came down to it, she would rather watch the world burn than see her brother come to harm. Always.

A single animal's life could never compare.

So she slit the bear's throat, bit back her tears, and refused to feel anything as the light left its eyes.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

"-ce... Ace, wake-"

In the depths of the darkness that held him, the voice was almost too far away to hear.

"-ce! Come on-"

The dark was cold and lonely and hurt. Like acid. Like a vice squeezing down. Like fire beneath his skin, as if his powers had turned against him.

Slap!

Ace groaned, and blinked. Everything was a blur. He closed his eyes again. His throat felt as if he'd swallowed the entire Alabastan dessert; raw and gritty and dry.

"W't?" he mumbled. He wasn't sure he had actually managed to produce sound.

"Ace!"

Ow. Hugs hurt.

… Who was hugging him?

He made another attempt at opening his eyes. Still blurry, and everything was swaying oddly to boot. But the blonde hair right in front of his nose he recognized.

"... S'bo?"

"I'm so glad you're awake. You need to drink! And eat, if you're up to it."

Ace blinked blearily. He'd only gotten about three words from that. Obligingly, he allowed his sister to pour something in his mouth.

Blessed coolness dribbled over his shrivelled tongue, reviving the parched tissues of his throat into something that was actually capable of swallowing. He coughed and spluttered as he greedily tried to take in more. Sabo's fingers gently carded though his hair as she softly urged him to slow down a little.

"Shh, shh, don't worry, there is more. A lot more. Just slow down a bit, you idiot."

Ace didn't want to slow down. He wanted more, more water. He was so desperately thirsty...

He choked out a wordless protest as the cup or flask or whatever it was withdrew from his lips. Noooo. He wanted it back.

"Here, eat."

Reluctantly, Ace let his jaw relax as something else was placed in his mouth. The warm, savoury flavour of roasted meat exploded on his tongue. He barely had the energy to chew, but his stomach had handled far worse than unchewed chunks of meat. He swallowed with little difficulty, weakly licking his lips free of fat. He had not realized how much of the ache he felt was from hunger.

Slowly, Sabo fed him, offering him more sips between bites, and by the time she was done he was as much asleep from the food as from the endless draining pull radiating from his wrists.

"It's alright, Ace. You can sleep. Don't you worry about anything, I'll get you home."

Ace allowed himself to drift off, knowing Sabo would never lie to him about such things.

In his exhaustion, he missed the sharp fissure in her confident facade.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo slept long and hard and felt loads better for it. Unfortunately, sleeping through the day and most of the night meant she had to wait for dusk before she could set out.

She made sure to make good use of that time. She stuffed her face with cold meat just like in the old days, back when they were little kids and couldn't count on meals to turn up regularly either, which made them eat as much as they could at every opportunity in a way that horrified bystanders.

She killed another bear so her brother could eat his fill again too. Putting a thin layer of fur and fabric between Ace's wrists and the seastone cuffs seemed to have given him just enough of a buffer to regain consciousness. It made feeding him a lot easier, even though he was still mostly asleep for that.

Progress was progress though, and anything that might help her brother recover a little was a win in her books.

Sabo sailed away hours after sunset, with her brother wrapped in their two new furs, medicines her animals had retrieved en masse from the town, a small store of roasted meat, six round one-pound cheeses that had required some rather creative thievery, and a large barrel full of fresh water.

Obtaining that last one had been iffy. Barrels that size weren't easily carried and had required the coordinated effort of a dozen individuals of three different species of monkeys to steal it from someone's shed. Sabo hoped it would not be missed too terribly.

So far it seemed the marines had missed her presence, but just to be sure, Sabo made sure to bring some backup from the reef with her.

She could never have too much firepower as far as she was concerned.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

This trip, Sabo thought to herself, definitely counted as intense immersive training.

One and a half week. One and a half week of near-constant use of her Devil Fruit and Observation Haki. She had practiced before, but never on this scale, or with this kind of desperation to push her beyond her limits. Her range was expanding further and further in her desperate bid to stay ahead of their hunters. Not even their hunt for Blackbeard had improved her range like this. The number of animals she could control had increased exponentially, as had her ability to fragment her sense of self without reducing her awareness or her abilities to process the input she received and act accordingly. She had managed to find an even better balance between active control and mere guidance, leaving the animals' bodies to instinct and habit while impressing her desires on their minds so they followed her will flawlessly.

Motivation was definitely key in learning to control both Devil Fruit abilities and Haki, she decided. And gods did she have a lot of motivation.

"How's it goin'," Ace muttered. His eyes were lidded and barely focused, but Sabo was just glad he now had the energy to be awake a couple of minutes at the time and coherent enough to worry about their pursuers.

"I think I have found the weak point in their patrols. It's almost like a barricade, but I think I know how to get through. I will need to rely on my animals more and we won't be able to afford even the slightest bit of light, but if we wait for a bit of cloud cover and approach at night, we should be able to move though their barricade fast enough that they won't notice. With a bit of luck it should take a while for the marines to realize we gave them the slip."

Ace gave her a concerned look. Sabo hated the self-loathing she could read in his gaze. She knelt and carefully laid down beside him. At this point, sitting upright made no difference at all and was nothing but a silly habit. Her own senses had become entirely superfluous, only useful in keeping an eye on her brother. And even then she often favoured the senses of her mice over her own. Their eyes were not worth much, but their hearing and sense of smell told her far better than her own eyesight how Ace was doing and whether Ace's injuries needed treatment or not.

She wriggled beside him, careful not to push against his injuries, and wrapped her arms around his fur-covered waist. The furs were kind of gross, given how quickly she had prepared them. She had tried to dry them by spanning them next to the fire and rubbing salt from old crusts on the trees on them, but fact remained that they'd been still as good as fresh when they had left that particular island behind them. They were getting a bit whiffy and Sabo took great care to keep Ace's coat and her cloak between the fur and his bandages.

"It will be fine, Ace. My birds know the Grand Line. Their instinct tell me tonight will be clouded. If I push the torpedo-squids a little, we will be able to slip right through."

"torpedo-squids? That's what's pulling us now?" There was a glitter of curiosity in Ace's dulled eyes.

"Yes. They are incredibly efficient swimmers. Not as good as sailfish, but towing loads comes very easily to them."

"Hmm. That's cool."

Ace yawned. Blinked blearily. Skipped to a completely different topic like he had forgotten what they had been talking about. He probably had. "How's the den den?" he asked.

Sabo carefully did not grimace. Having a stable freshwater store had helped keep the snail hydrated, but the constant exposure to sea spay was taking its toll. She had covered it with Ace's hat in an attempt to give it the shelter it needed, but Sabo was not sure it was going to survive the trip.

Which would mean they would be in deep trouble, because though Sabo had gotten better, she still was not adapt at intercepting den den communication by herself. The den den mushi was one of the crutches she needed to be able to spy on the marines. Without the snail, she could not be sure she would be able to keep listening in when they made their plans.

She really, really could not afford to lose that insight. It was how she knew about the barricade in the first place; a long line of patrolling marine ships that had been tasked with intercepting and detaining them. Like in a long net, there were mazes in the barricade, but she would have to time their escape carefully. In daylight, the distance between the ships was short enough that they could see each other on the horizon, and thus also see any ship that tried to pass between them.

The Striker was not large, but nowhere near small enough to be mistaken for just a random piece of ocean debris either. Its mast alone was enough to give its function away, even without the sail being a very visible square of white against the waves.

"The den den mushi is fine," Sabo told him, because what else could she say? All the truth would accomplish was giving Ace something else to worry about. Her brother did not need the additional stress.

"Good," Ace sighed, and Sabo carefully did not grimace when he did not pick up on her lie.

A conflicted look passed over his face. After a long silence, he spoke again, and his question surprised Sabo. She had gotten the impression that he either hadn't realized what she had done or did not want to know.

"What did Pops say?"

Sabo carefully chose her words. "He was worried. Your crewmates too. They wanted to know how you were doing."

"Oh." Another long silence. "Were they mad?"

Sabo wanted to frown at how timid Ace sounded. Instead she gave him her warmest smile. "I don't think so. I think they were just concerned. They care a lot about you. They are coming this way all the way from the New World for you."

A small, self-deprecating smile stole over Ace's face. Little hints of happiness peeked shyly around the corners of his mouth and wonder shone in his eyes, like he himself couldn't quite believe that his chosen family would come for him. "Yeah. Yeah, they're crazy like that."

Sabo watched that shy happiness with a bit of self-deprecation of her own. Gently she kissed him on his fever-warm forehead.

"… What was that for," Ace grumbled, cheeks just a little redder than before.

"No reason," Sabo said innocently. "Go to sleep. If you look half dead when we meet them they will think that I haven't been taking care of you. That would leave a rather bad first impression, don't you think?"

Ace chuckled weakly. "Like you'd ever do anything less than your best to take care of me. If they give you any flak 'bout it I'll beat them up for you."

"Of course I take care of you. You're my idiot brother." Sabo carded her fingers through messy dark strands, rubbing Ace's scalp till he shivered a little and yawned.

"You're the idiot," Ace muttered.

"Sleep."

"Hrmm. 'Night Sabo."

"Night, Ace. Sleep tight," Sabo replied, gaze distant and with grim determination furrowing her brow.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

The marines caught up with them at the start of the third week. Sabo stared at distant sails with dull eyes, too tired from more than six days of wakefulness to feel upset.

Her trick with the barricade had helped, but the Admiral that was coordinating the search was no fool. It had only taken him two days to realize someone should have spotted them already.

He was like a dog with a bone, which was at least fitting, since Sabo had overheard some marines call him Akainu.

He was a ruthless bastard though, if the plans she'd overheard were any indication. His words had only fuelled her desire to keep her brother well out of his hands. There was no mercy to be found there.

Unfortunately, the man had figured out their general location, and now what looked like a good chunk of the marine fleet was closing in on her location. The Striker was too small to be spotted over large distances, but nevertheless, time was running out fast.

Sabo bit her lip, and watched the little vivre card wriggle. They should be getting close, shouldn't they? Surely they wouldn't get caught now?

Her eagles circled high, but all they saw were waves and marines.

Sabo closed her eyes and ruthlessly cut herself off from all but the most essential animals. Instead she reached out, stretching all her power ahead of her.

In the far distance, she snagged hold of another bird of prey, the new set of eyes opening new windows. Unlike her eagles, this bird was not fatigued by weeks of near non-stop flight. Its eyes were sharp and clear and scoured the seas ahead for a sign, any sign, that help was coming.

It zeroed in on a small dot on the edge of its vision, hours and hours ahead, but there.

And on the distant sails…

Sabo let out a strangled sob, exhaustion and relief wanting to burst out of her chest like corks under great pressure. Knowing safety was so near filled her with new energy, and she used all eyes she had available to plot the quickest, surest way of reaching the distant Whitebeard vessel. The birds that had been taking a break on the Striker took to the air in a whirlwind of feathers. Under the ocean's surface, her finned allies stirred when they felt her excitement.

Half an hour later, her excitement was replaced by a dark feeling of dread.

The gaps between the marine ships were narrow.

Too narrow. The chances that she could slip past all of them, in broad daylight, without them seeing her and alerting the ships further away, were practically non-existent.

Sabo carefully buried a whimper. Oh, she really hadn't wanted to do this.

With a deep, aggravated sigh, she went and woke up her brother.

There was a lot of yelling in her near future.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

"What?! Sabo, you can't be serious!" Ace snarled, twisting and turning like an eel in his chains. "They'll kill you! You'll be dead or sure!"

"That is a risk I am willing to take," Sabo said resolutely, adjusting her grip on her struggling brother as she rolled him overboard. He landed with a dull thump. The whale Sabo had recruited barely felt it through its thick blubber.

Sabo jumped overboard too. The thick whale hide felt bouncy under her feet. The rise and fall of its enormous spine made her footing a bit more unsteady than the ocean waves had, but Sabo adjusted easily enough.

Ace was still swearing and yelling at her. Sabo blithely ignored him as she directed her squids on how to wrap the long ropes around the behemoth she was standing on.

"Ace, be sensible," she snapped. "If they get their hands on you it will be straight to Impel Down for you, and from there I doubt they will wait long to bring you to the execution stands. But I don't have a bounty, would be a complete unknown if it wasn't for me traveling with you, and they won't care nearly as much about me than they do about catching you. Once they realize you aren't aboard they may even abandon me in favour of your crew."

"You- They would still kill you for collaboration, you idiot! Me they'll want to make an example off, but you-" Ace yelled, nearly choking on spit and fury. Sabo felt Ace should have almost cut himself with how sharply he drew breath. "And what do you mean, 'abandon you for my crew'? They're nowhere near!"

Sabo smirked at him. "Actually, they are already within my sight. They're still quite a distance away, but honestly, why do you think I'm sending you away now?"

Ace blinked at her, before his anger returned. "That's even worse! If they're that close, then why-"

"Because," Sabo interrupted him, "the marines are even closer. The Striker won't make it though, and if they see the ship's empty they'll know something's up."

Sabo hated putting such a look on her brother's face. Hated watching realization dawn and devastation take the place of anger. Eyes wide, lips trembling, wordlessly begging her not to do this to him.

"I'm sorry, Ace," she said softly. "For what it's worth, all these weeks traveling with you were some of the best in my entire life."

"Sabo…"

"I will do my best to stay alive," Sabo swore. "If fate is kind, I will be able to make my escape and rejoin you later."

"Don't," Ace whispered as she secured the last ropes around him, placing her last venomous snake and all but two of her mice in the folds of fur surrounding him. Snowball looked mournful as she peered at her from the folds of the fur. "Sabo, please-"

Sabo avoided his eyes and boarded the Striker again. "Bye Ace. Stay safe."

She urged the small whale pod to move on before she could regret it, closing her ears against the last of her brother's cries.

"SABOOO!"

A shudder ran though her, a single tear making its way down her cheek. Sabo wiped it away and tilted Ace's hat a bit further down.

Then she gathered her remaining animals and set sail in a course that deviated ever so slightly from the one she had followed before.

Above her head, the Whitebeard flag waved boldly in the wind.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo vision swam, her fragmented consciousness floating around loosely after so many days of spreading herself across any and all animals she could reach.

She felt faint and stretched thin, this close to the final edge of her ability.

She wished she wasn't so tired.

But she needed to focus herself. Ace depended on her.

And they had just arrived.

A smooth swoop, and claws gripped weather-beaten wood. It was comfortingly sturdy after so many weeks on the wing.

She shifted a little so the part of her on her back could be seen by the crew.

Now, who to address… Ah.

The blond at the front of the crowd resembled his bounty poster rather well. And, better luck, she remembered the name beneath the picture.

"Hello," she said, the word strange and awkward in a mouth that wasn't a maw or a beak. "You're Marco the Phoenix, right?"

He blinked slowly at her, eyes trailing over the many forms of her with eyebrows raised high. Behind him countless faces expressed disbelief and surprise in a multitude of flavours.

Wait. Did she even use the right mouth to speak those words? She sucked in her lips and nibbled. But no. Soft, pliable lips. Teeth blunt and rounded, all neatly arranged in single rows. A tongue that was flexible and had no problem giving her a map of flat molars and the smooth ridges and bumps in the roof of her mouth. She was indeed using the den den mushi's body.

She frowned at the blond before her. "You are Marco, aren't you?"

The blond shook himself. "I am. You're Sabo?"

"Indeed." She swallowed. "Would you please call your doctor? Ace has a fever and I'm worried about his injuries."

The blond's eyes widened. "Ace? Where is he?"

Sabo unfolded a wing and pointed down. "Over here."

She quickly took to the air when what seemed like the entire crew rushed to the railing.

"Hey, it really is Ace!"

"What the hell? Is that a whale?"

"The real question is, did she seriously tie him to a whale?!"

"Tell the idiots to quit staring and get me out already," Ace groaned at the part of her sitting on his chest.

"Ace is terribly impatient, don't you think?" Sabo asked Marco conversationally, careful to avoid injuring him with her claws as she landed on his shoulder. "I safely sneaked him past the marines, and all he does is complain. Unfair, is it not?"

"Get down there and pull him up!" Marco ordered his people. Promptly, a guy Sabo recognized as a fishman jumped overboard with a long line in one hand and a dagger in the other.

"Tell him to be careful with my whale," Sabo requested.

"Don't worry about Namur, he won't hurt it. Tell me what you can about Ace," Marco said, staring her in the eye. Some of her eyes.

"Well, he's awake at times nowadays. And pretty pissed I sent him ahead. He still has a fever and those awful handcuffs though, so I'm not feeling too guilty about it."

"And why," Marco said slowly, a hint of suspicion stirring in his eyes, "did you feel the need to send him ahead?"

"Well…" Sabo tilted her head – heads – considering how best to say it. "The marines found us."

"WHAT?!"

Sabo winched, multiple sets of ears ringing. The shout hadn't come from Marco alone, but also from the scores of others listening in on their conversation.

"You don't need to shout, you know?" she muttered. "What did you expect? I tried, but their commanders committed so many ships to the hunt they were bound to find us sooner or later. I'm just glad you were within my range when it finally happened."

"Where are you now?" Marco demanded.

"Uh… somewhere in the middle of the sea some distance away from you."

"… Of course, yoi. Let me rephrase that then. How close are the marines to catching you?"

"Pretty close. Was to be expected, to be honest."

"… Do I want to know why that is something you expected, yoi?"

"Well." Sabo pursed her lips, attention mostly on herself now Ace was safe. "No sense in playing decoy if you don't draw attention, is there?"

"… You two are so alike, yoi. How far away are you? I want your best estimation."

"Not sure. I mean, it took me less than three hours to swim from there to here, but I'm not sure how long you will take."

"You sent Ace that far away from you? What if the marines caught up to you, or someone spotted him?"

"It was a bit of a gamble, but I had to. Any later, and they really would have spotted him. And I could see where you were, so I knew that I only needed to stall to get him to safety. It all worked out."

At that point, Marco was momentarily distracted by Namur climbing over the railing with Ace over his shoulder like a very furry caterpillar. A weakly swearing caterpillar.

What could she say? She had no more use for the bear fur except for a bit as decoy, and she didn't want Ace to get cold in the water, so she had wrapped him up in everything they had.

It was still kind of funny.

Impressively enough, there were barely any screams when her snake dropped out of the Ace-burrito, bodyguard job done. Mostly there were just curses.

Less impressive was how quickly someone stomped down with a Haki-coated foot on her poor snake's head.

Sabo winched and shivered. "That was unnecessary," she hissed venomously.

The unknown pirate startled and blinked uncomprehendingly at her. He quelled under her glare. "Um… Sorry?"

Sabo scoffed and returned her gaze to her brother, whom was unwrapped with a bit more wariness than was actually warranted.

Luckily, they did not give her mice the same treatment, and allowed them to bounce around their feet without stepping on them.

Sabo send another glare the idiot's way. She would remember that idiot pirate's face. Oh yes.

Namur was incredibly gentle as he laid Ace on a stretcher some other crewmembers had hurried over. Sabo watched them take Ace below deck with a soft smile.

Her attention was drifting away to problems closer to herself when Maco's voice drew her back.

The First Division Commander was frowning ever so slightly.

"Was there anything else you needed, Mr Phoenix?" she asked.

The frown deepened. "Yes," Marco replied readily. "How many marines are around exactly?"

"Not sure. There are a lot of them," she said, biting her lip. Or rather, the den den's lip.

Marco visibly refrained from rolling his eyes. "There always are for us. I need exact numbers, yoi."

"They regularly send small fleets after you?" Sabo was confident that her expression on the den den mushi communicated a rather impressive amount of doubt.

A longsuffering sigh. "No, they quit doing that because it wasted too many men. Now, again: how many, please, without funny comments or anything?"

"About thirty." Her eyelids slid to half-mast, her attention clearly somewhere else. "Thirty-two. All warships. One an Admiral's vessel."

A guy in a woman's kimono and more makeup than even a noble would wear whistled, low and impressed. "What did you do to draw that many?"

"Run. And successfully evade capture. At first there were just five, but when they couldn't find us they called other bases. They wanted to intercept us. I think more than half of those are from the barricade we managed to slip past."

"Can you run a little longer? We're not that far away, I think. With what you said I think an hour, two hours tops. Even if they dare attack us we could offer you some safety."

"I am doing my best. So far I am ahead, and I am trying to move in your direction, but the ones that can see me have alerted the other ships. They are closing in from a lot of sides. I cannot be certain I can get through."

"Keep trying," Marco ordered calmly. "I don't feel like getting murdered by Ace if something happens to you."

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Marco forced himself to keep a cool head when the den den mushi laughed at his words as if what he'd said was a joke.

Marco was most definitely not joking. Given his reaction with Thatch's murder, Ace was going to be furious if anything happened to his sister.

He opened his mouth to tell Sabo this, but in that moment, the birds that had gathered on the railing all took flight. Even the eagle that had carried the den den mushi left after abruptly depositing the snail at Marco's feet.

Marco took careful note of the de direction they took off in and breathed in slow and deep. At least he now had a better idea what kind of ability Sabo had at her disposal.

He feared it would be of little help against a marine Admiral and his horde of underlings.

Further attempts to speak with Sabo failed, as the den den mushi's expression remained firmly turned inwards.

The continued silence was worrying, and Marco firmly told himself it was because she was doing her best to follow his instructions. He had no idea whether that was actually the case, but he tried to be optimistic. Surely she wouldn't have the same penchant for casual insubordination as her brother?

Given that she abandoned her noble life to go traipsing around Paradise with her brother, Marco didn't hold much hope.

Instead he focused on ensuring the Moby made as much speed as possible in the direction the animals had disappeared. They had already lost more than enough time to the Grand Line's whims, and now seemed a particularly bad time to dawdle.

Time passed. The air on the Moby was full of controlled chaos as they sped across the waves. By now, their own black den den mushi's were picking up enough marine communications to know where to go, what with the marines shouting so many coordinates at each other.

Half an hour later, Marco made another attempt to address the den den mushi again. "Oi, Sabo. How are you doing?"

His assumption that Sabo was occasionally listening was proven correct when Sabo hummed. "As a decoy? Splendidly. I've got the full and undivided attention of more than a dozen marine warships and the marines are getting really annoyed with me. I don't think they've even realized yet that Ace isn't aboard anymore. But as a living breathing person who is aiding and abetting pirates? I am starting to get real concerned about my chances of survival."

"Just hang on, we're almost there."

"I know- Wait. You want to join the fight?"

Wow. It was surprising how much the note of disbelief in her voice hurt his pride.

"Of course. You saved our brother," Marco pointed out incredulously, putting effort into ensuring the implied 'how stupid are you' came across clearly. "Least we can do is return the favour."

"Oh. But I'm not part of your crew."

"… So?"

"Um… Huh." A moment of embarrassed silence. "I see. Well. I can say with all honesty that all help you can offer will be highly appreciated-" She stopped abruptly. The den den mushi gulped audibly. "Oh. OH…. Oooh boy."

If that wasn't the clear sound of rising dread, Marco wasn't a pirate. "What is it?" he demanded, voice calm but cutting to draw her attention back from whatever she was seeing.

The den den mushi displayed the most sickly grin he'd seen in a long, long time.

"I can now call myself the proud keeper of Admiral Sakuzaki's vexed attention. He's rather displeased with me. I can feel his glare even over here."

A pause. "I also happen to be surrounded."

Well… Fuck.

"Do you think he won't kill me if I say I stole this ship?" Sabo asked weakly.

"We'll catch up. If they take you prisoner we will come to free you," Marco promised. "Just don't do anything that will provoke them."

The den den's face twisted with a somewhat hysterical giggle. " Oh, that ship has sailed already. I definitely have already provoked them," Sabo replied between snorting breaths. "But prisoner might- Ack!"

"What happened?" Marco demanded.

"They shot at me, the answer to taking prisoners is no!" Sabo yelped. "Ye gods, that Admiral is an asshole."

"Try to retreat!"

"To where?! I am surrounded, in case you forgot!" A deep breath. "Fuck. If that is how they wish to play it – back to the basics I guess. Back against the wall, only way out is fighting. Damn, this is going to suck."

"Idiot, don't fight them, yoi! You don't stand a chance on your own! Just surrender if you need to!"

"Yeah, haha, sorry, but I'm afraid I have to disregard your clever suggestion."

"You know," Izou said musingly, "I couldn't imagine how Ace could have a noble-born sister. But I get it now. It's like listening to a female, well-spoken Ace."

Next to him, Haruta nodded, wide eyes watching the argument unfold with disbelief.

Marco ignored the peanut gallery, instead focusing on trying to get Sabo to see sense. It wasn't working.

"I know, okay," Sabo yelled though the den den mushi. "I know it's nothing short of idiocy to try to fight them. But that doesn't matter. It's do or die, and I do not want to die yet. I promised Ace I would do my best to come back."

All of them just… stared, for a moment.

An annoyed huff and an almost resentful glare. "Don't look so surprised. Of course I am aware of my chances. I just don't have a choice but to take them."

The smile the den den mushi wore was a perfect match to Ace's most manically cheerful smile. That smile never boded well. "Wish me luck and please pick up the pieces if I happen to get blown up before you arrive."

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo stared up at certain death and pretended not to be scared.

Shoulders squared and back straight, she knew her posture screamed defiance. Though at this point, a whisper of defiance would probably be plenty to piss off the Admiral.

"One more chance, pirates," the Admiral thundered. "Surrender or I will sink you right here!"

Sabo tilted Ace's hat a bit further down, hoping the marines had not yet realized that she was not her brother. So far, the combination of distance, Ace's iconic hat hiding what little of her hair she had not managed to coil up underneath, a too-large pale yellow t-shirt reminiscent of Ace's Spade Pirate days, and loose black trousers seemed to keep the Admiral fooled. The bundle of fur at her feet was nowhere near thick enough and barely long enough to mimic a body, which she assumed the Admiral thought it was. The body of her brother's mysterious companion.

It was obvious the Admiral had never seen her brother in person, nor knew much about him or his habits, and Sabo derived some dark satisfaction from her successful deceit.

But it was only a matter of time till someone got the bright idea to take a closer look with a spyglass, or remembered that Ace hadn't worn a shirt in years.

Already, this first strategy to stall for time was falling apart. Soon she would have to initiate the plans she had made before stalling had been an option.

She hadn't expected the Whitebeards to come to her rescue now they had Ace. Had, in fact, believed their questions were only to help them make a clean getaway. But from the faces she could see though her den den mushi they fully intended to engage the entire fleet.

Sabo prayed she could last long enough for them to arrive.

Doing her best imitation of her brother's voice, Sabo called back "No offense, but you can stick that offer where the sun doesn't shine, Admiral!"

The Admiral's face purpled, his sharp order echoed over the waves, and cannons boomed like thunder.

Beneath the Striker, the muscled bodies of two massive sharks moved in perfect unity, and swung the small ship in a sharp turn. Around Sabo, fountains of water sprung up, momentarily obscuring the marines from sight.

The smoke resulting from more than thirty ships firing all their cannons at the same time formed the perfect cover.

With her mice she could see that the Admiral's and the other marines' focus was entirely on her and the clouds obscuring the Striker. Which was why they never saw her retaliatory attack coming.

Straight from their largest blind spot. Behind.

The marines were still expecting Ace, and Sabo. Was. Not. Ace.

She was nowhere near as reluctant to use underhanded tactics, for one.

Fast as flying whips, a dozen massive pitch black arms rose above the water, each many times taller than the largest of Mount Colubo's giant trees, and came down on marine ships like guillotine blades.

WHAM! CRRRASH! CRACK!

Wood squealed like a hundred tortured piglets as Haki-covered limbs slammed through hulls and masts.

Sabo smirked, shielding her eyes from rogue splinters. The decapuses she had taken with her from the reefs at the last island had done an amazing job. Several of the marine ships were smashed to pieces, sinking like stones.

Including a certain Admiral's vessel.

"Too bad, Akainu," Sabo sing-songed softly to herself. "I'm not going to play fair with a mad dog like you.~"

Luckily, she knew he was a Devil Fruit user too. And oh, look. They just happened to be surrounded by nothing but ocean.

"Let's see how good you are at swimming, Admiral."

Cannons thundered again, but her sharks were agile and strong, her Observation Haki more than good enough to know which way to dodge.

She and the Striker danced between the projectiles as if they had never done anything else.

A searing death stare burned through the clouds of gun smoke. Sabo shivered at the sheer malice in it, and turned wary eyes in the direction it was coming from.

Akainu was glaring fiery death at her from the small lifeboat that had miraculously survived her assault. Magma was bubbling around his fists, casting a furious red glow on the water, but he wasn't throwing it at her just yet.

Sabo knew why too.

Akainu was magma. Or, to be more specific, molten stone. Hot enough to sear through wood and flesh with ease, yes, but stone was stone, and stone had weight.

If he didn't want to flip or destroy his lifeboat, Akainu had to be very careful with his magma indeed.

Sabo grinned back with reckless abandon.

In a way, she was damn lucky it was Akainu who had come after her. From what Ace told her, he was the most useless on open ocean out of the three marine Admirals. His hated for pirates had lured him out of his protective shell at Marineford, right into the heart of his greatest weakness.

She was going to take ruthless advantage of that fact.

But first…

Several high-pitched metallic shrieks echoed over the water. With a mighty groan, her squids separated several rudders from their hulls. Curses followed the cry of screaming metal.

Sabo wiped a thin trickle of sweat of her brow. Focused once more.

This time, when her decapuses struck the Captains and Vice Admirals on the remaining ships were expecting her. She grit her teeth when several coordinated attacks punctured the Haki armour she had covered her animals with.

Nevertheless, two more ships were down, and a third badly damaged. And all it had cost Sabo was an arm. Literally. The other massive cephalopods were fine, if slightly injured, but one had one of its tentacles severed.

"Shh, shh," she muttered as she reached out with mental fingers to soothe the injured animals' agitated minds. Her Devil Fruit did its job, and the decapuses obediently swam to the next series of ships to destroy.

Sabo wanted to hurl. But she was a selfish, selfish person. She wanted to live too badly to spare her animals in this fight.

A faint sizzling was her only warning, before her Observation Haki screamed.

She yelped and quickly jerked back as two fiery lances of liquid stone sailed inches past her face.

Gulped, at the expression on Akainu's face.

Oh yeah. Provocation thoroughly accomplished.

Ahaha, this was such a bad idea.

More magma flew her way. Some globs landed right beside the Striker.

The ocean's cold was vast and endless, but before the water could cool the viscous liquid back to solid stone, it hit one of her sharks.

The pain of the burn seared though her own back too. A phantom only, to her, but maddeningly painful.

With iron control, she stopped herself and her beast from flinching. Instead she pushed herself and her sharks to dodge as swift and efficiently as she could. In retaliation, Sabo used squids and decapuses to sink several more ships and leave even more rudderless and uncontrollable.

With a faint sense of regret she shrunk her range, reducing the area over which she had spread her animals. Some, she had to release from her hold. No longer could she hear the distant voice of the Phoenix speak at her, or watch how her brother was finally freed from those horrid handcuffs.

Her freed mental capacity was instead poured into her Observation Haki, stretching her foreknowledge from mere seconds to almost half a minute into the future.

It was exactly what she needed, because not even twenty seconds later, cannons boomed again, and magma flew through the air like a searing net of red strands. The Whitebeard flag was shredded and set alight, but the swift application of Armament Haki spared the Striker a similar fate.

Sabo panted from the exertion.

Steam obscured the world in her immediate vicinity. Her birds saw how, with just a few sharp gestures, Akainu directed a new attack at her now he thought her blinded.

Sabo narrowed her eyes.

By now she was sure the Admiral was well aware she was not Ace. But apparently, that seemed to matter little to the man. If anything, it seemed to make him more eager to see her dead.

Not even trying to keep her alive for information, now did he?

Well then. She didn't want him alive either.

She started to load her rifle, watching the distance between herself and Akainu. It was a long shot – likely too long – but who knew? She might get lucky trice.

Absently, she wondered how her ability affected the way other's perceived her through their Observation Haki. Were her animals and she individual dots, unified in a single purpose? Was she spread out like a blanket, like the ever undulating sea? Could a skilled Haki user sense the strands of her consciousness that connected her to her animals, like a giant spiderweb?

It was a fascinating question, likely brought on by a combination of her exhaustion and her intense adrenaline rush.

She pulled her fraying attention back together, danced and flirted with the projectile tracks her Haki painted bright and clear in the air for her, and used both the Striker and her animals to launch herself into the air whenever needed. Magma whips punished the ocean surface around her, forcing Sabo to employ every bit of speed and flexibility she could squeeze out of her own and her two sharks' bodies to avoid them. She carefully picked a handful of seconds in which nothing was flying at her to narrow herself down into a single sharp point.

She submerged herself again, her body boneless, water a held in her core and pushed out till she was shooting like a javelin through what seemed like an endless wall of particularly heavy wind. There was nothing but the rush of water, the steel focus, and the small silhouette above her.

Haki flowed over borrowed skin.

Torpedo-squid was such a fitting name. The marines screamed when her squid shot like a cannonball through the bottom of the Admiral's lifeboat.

It died a second later, seared and carved to pieces by furious magma, but by then Sabo's goal was already accomplished.

No more safe footing for the Admiral. Nothing as neat and pretty as a lifeboat.

All she left him was the debris that had stayed afloat after the sinking of the ships, and allies too far away for Akainu to reach on his own.

"Well then. Shall we dance, mad dog?" Sabo whispered gleefully. Akainu's magma was more a liability than an asset in the position he was in, while Sabo's own power allowed her to walk on the ocean surface itself, as long as she had enough animals to support her.

And she had plenty animals.

This part of the sea was rich with schools of silver and gold fish, and they drew large predators by the hundreds.

Already, all marines that had had the misfortune to land in the water were experiencing the hunger these seas had to offer.

Blood tasted sweet in her mouths as screams cut off almost before they were heard as she dragged her victims beneath the waves. She was human, but also shark and eagle and seabeast and hundreds of other things. This was her domain, and she would not be defeated.

No matter how dirty she needed to fight in order to win.

She had made a promise.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Below deck was chaos. Shouts. Screams. People yelling things along the lines of 'where the hell is Fire Fist?!' and 'oh my god, Admiral Akainu is almost in the water!' and 'I don't want to jump into the water, have you seen those damn seabeasts down there?!' in increasingly panicked tones. Another two popular sentiments were 'why the fuck are animals attacking us?!' and 'What if a sea king shows up?!'

Sabo was sad to say she currently didn't have any sea kings at her disposal. They were hard to keep with her. Most animals didn't mind traveling along with her for long periods of time as long as she provided them with enough food, but sea kings were so large she would have had to let all her other animals get eaten just to keep one sea king with her. She could demand a sea king to come with her, force it to carry out her will, but sooner or later the giant beasts needed basic care, and that was something she could not provide them.

It was truly sad none had been around the last few days. Akainu could no doubt kill a sea king, but the other marine vessels would have been easy prey for a creature that large.

Instead she was forced to destroy them the hard way with the small army of animals she had amassed during her journey. Unfortunately only her decapuses and squids were efficient in rendering the marine ships unworkable, and by now quite a number of them had been killed by the higher ranked marines. Sea beasts could tear off rudders as well, but she needed those for other things, and some ships she couldn't allow to remain whole anyway.

She refused to leave the Admiral an escape route.

So on silent cat feet, a part of Sabo ghosted through the nearest functional marine ship. It had taken some effort to remain unnoticed in the chaos, but finally her preparations were complete.

With a single jump, she was where she needed to be, and stared down into a barrel full of gunpowder.

An open barrel full of gunpowder.

"Oi, Chibley! Get off there, you silly cat! What are you-" The young marine's eyes widened. Sabo felt a pang of guilt at the terror on the powder monkey's face. He couldn't be more than twelve…

But this was war, so instead of pity she gave him the best catty grin she could, and dropped the cigar she had stolen and lightened in the Captain's cabin into the barrel.

Several hundred yards away, tears burned in Sabo's eyes as at her left, a marine ship went up like fireworks.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

"Shoot them! Shoot the damn things!" the Vice Admiral roared above deck.

Down below on the gun deck, Seaman Apprentice Peterson scrambled to carry the order out. One of those damn demon kraken's was approaching, and if they didn't kill it soon the ship would not survive, and he'd seen the seabeasts down there. They had torn the drowning apart, easy as if they were nothing but cheap dolls-

A hand landed on his shoulder, and he nearly screamed. The tears he'd been valiantly trying to suppress took his moment of inattention to escape. He sniffed and let shaking hands fall.

"Calm down, kid," Old Man James said gruffly. Like his epithet implied, the other marine was a lot older than most, and his experience provided a steadiness that was desperately needed. "Just take a breath and keep working. Have faith in your commanding officers. If they are able they will protect us."

A shudder, and Peterson's eyes glanced towards the porthole. "But…"

A sigh, deep but not unkind. "Aye. Those demons are as lethal as the beasts down there. If the gods were kind, Devil powers would never end up in the hands of pirates. Nevertheless, all we can do is fight our hardest. They are not invulnerable. We will bring this pirate to justice, son, don't worry."

Peterson trembled, but did what he was told and finished reloading the cannon.

Old Man James nodded and pressed his hand against the side of the cannon. "Good. Now. Time to employ and old trick and see how good this she-devil really is."

When the order to fire came, the cannonball that left the muzzle was even blacker than usual.

The monster ignored most shots, but theirs made it shriek. A high, eardrum-tearing, nails-across-chalkboard sound that made both James and Peterson wince, before the creature sank beneath the waves.

For several long, breathless moments, everyone waited. The waves did not stir where the beast had disappeared.

Then people started to cheer. Some took a few potshots at the circling birds nearby.

Old Man James grinned. "See, kid? We old folk still have lots of tricks to deal with devils. We'll be just fine."

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Behind James and Peterson, a pair of mice just finished separating the burning end of match cord from the rest of the cord and linstock.

No one noticed until they tried to light another shot.

Shortly after that, they didn't notice anything ever again.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

The sea was boiling. Not in many places, but with the amount of magma Akainu was dumping into the water, those few places were quite a hindrance.

The ocean's cold was vast and endless though, and the hot water spread out quickly, diminishing its own danger.

Closing her eyes against near-blistering hot temperatures, she beat with powerful muscles against the water, shooting past hotspots too fast to burn. Thick fur moved like ghostly seaweed in the rush, a layer of isolation against the heat. Seconds later her goal was within reach.

Jaws closed lightning-fast around wood, and bit down.

Wood crumbled as easy as a cracker between her jaws.

Screams echoed above the water and were cut off as quickly as they began, when the owners landed in her domain in a cloud of bubbles.

Twelve other perspectives moved in for the kill while her first one dragged the remains of the lifeboat deep down into the ocean and well out of the Admiral's reach.

Behind her, her other animals feasted.

Further away, the Admiral constantly poured boiling rock in a ring around his raft, keeping her from snatching it from beneath his feet.

She keep circling, awaiting her chance.

There would be no help to save the drowning, nor any safety to cling to. None at all.

The sea itself was on her side. All she needed was time.

All were prey before her.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Hitting a moving target, Sabo knew, was not easy.

Especially over large distances and when you couldn't even see your target with your own eyes.

Even more so when your target had already decided most of the distractions she could employ were a non-threat.

Which. Really. Damn that Admiral and his superior Armament Haki.

Also his grudge. One could not forget his grudge. Man, did the guy hold a grudge. He was definitely trying to prove something.

This did not stop Sabo from trying to kill the bastard though. Asshole had it coming.

She growled as she missed for the umpteenth time, damn it all, then had to quickly switch to her staff to fend off another salvo of boiling-hot stone. Reloading was going to be a pain-

Hoo boy, was that asshole now trying to hijack her ship? A whip of magma that long and thin was either meant to cut the Striker in half or reel it in.

Both were unacceptable.

Sabo snarled wordlessly and slapped it away with a swipe of her staff. Swiftly manoeuvred out of the way of another rain of magma. Her Armament Haki was strong, but Akainu's was better, and though she could keep the damage to a minimum, she could feel the liquid stone eat at her skin. She was supremely glad for her Observation Haki, because if any more than just a light sprinkling had hit her, she really would have been hurting.

As it was, Ace was going to hate her for what she'd let happen to Striker's paintjob and his crew's flag.

Her body screamed abuse at her, but she resolutely blocked it out. There was no time to waiver, not a moment to just collapse and ache. She would move in time to her opponent, or she would never move again.

Akainu wanted her dead for this indignity, for daring to make him feel anything but confident and invulnerable, and Sabo refused to give him the satisfaction. So there was no choice but to keep going, second after second after endless, exhausting second. No matter how dearly her legs wanted to give out beneath her.

Backup was coming. All she needed to do was hold out until then.

Just a little longer.

Just a little longer, and pray the Phoenix had meant what he'd said.

(She couldn't hold out for much longer. But she would fight tooth and nail for every additional second.

She had to.

Ace…)

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

"Targets sighted! Prepare for combat!" Jozu thundered, his deep voice carrying far and wide.

Marco took to the air the moment that cry echoed across the Moby Dick's deck. He rose swiftly into the sky, the strong wings of his Zoan form carrying him effortlessly. With Sabo quiet they needed his eyes in the air to scope out the situation.

…. Which, surprisingly, did not seem as dire as he had expected. Dire, yes, but as he soared over the ocean's surface, the signs of a hard battle were there, instead of a small fleet fully prepared for their arrival and a ship disappearing over the horizon with Ace's sister.

It looked like it had been a long and bitter slaughter on both sides.

Steam shrouded most of the battlefield, in some places so thick that the columns of white damp reached even the altitude Marco was flying at. An abundance of wreckage was scattered across the waves, along with numerous corpses in marine uniform. The bodies of countless animals floated among them; from birds to giant seabeasts, to monstrously large kraken-like creatures.

It was as if the marines had gone to war against the sea itself.

Almost all the remaining marine ships in the vicinity were completely out of their usually so carefully coordinated positions.

A circling swoop around the closest one explained why. Marco had a front-row seat to witness what looked like a giant squid – that he was pretty damn sure did not belong in these waters – tear the rudder off a ship, along with a good chunk of the back. Darkness flowed and ebbed across its body. It was not, as Marco first assumed at first glance, the result of any colour-changing ability on the creature's part, but a rather skilled if haphazard application of Armament Haki.

Screams of frustration rose in its wake. The animal paid for it, but the damage would take many days and highly skilled shipwrights to repair.

A bit further away, pitch black octopus tentacles that were taller than the Moby was long rose from the water and smashed another ship, as easy as a smith's hammer would one of those silly little wooden miniatures ships that were sold at tourist ports.

A similar assault occurred to the left, but there a gutsy resident Rear Admiral had pulled his men together and had an effective response prepared. That octopus-like died with over a dozen massive harpoons turning its head into a pincushion, but not without dealing a significant amount of damage to the ship. Unfortunately, it did not sink, but it wouldn't do much sailing anymore either.

Marco hovered for a moment and just… watched.

This was quite a bit more impressive than Marco had expected from Sabo's Fruit.

It was also a very favourable sign. If animals were actively attacking the marines, Sabo was bound to be still alive and fighting.

Marco wheeled, letting the currents carry him in a lazy circle. Behind him, the Moby's cannons boomed as his brothers engaged the first marine ship they encountered. His sharp phoenix eyes searched for the person he knew should be around somewhere.

There!

A small shape shot out of a particularly large steam cloud, the familiar form of Ace's personal vessel a spot of perfect familiarity in the watery chaos, flanked by two dark shadows that seemed to be the cause of its speed and agility. The little ship was battered and singed, but in remarkably good shape considering the Admiral who was making an effort to sear it out of existence.

And on the Striker's deck-

Marco knew that expression, that tight set to the jaw and those narrow eyes, the exhaustion dragging limbs down and the sheer stubbornness that kept them upright despite everything. He had seen the same on Ace during his assassin days. They might not look anything alike, but Marco had no doubt whose sibling he was looking at.

Figured that Sabo would be too stubborn to know when to give up and collapse too.

The fact that Ace's hat was hanging on it its string around the blonde's neck only confirmed that this was Ace's sister.

What wasn't like Ace was the rifle she was aiming at what a quick glance revealed to be Akainu. Nor was the pure calculation in her expression.

Akainu, who she, upon closer inspection of the animals' movements, was keeping carefully separate from the other marines, and who seemed forced to rely on floating debris to keep himself from landing in the ocean.

Rather flimsy floating debris at that. Akainu had taken position on what seemed to be a piece of deck, and it looked like that was a solid enough raft, for now. But around him, only singular beams and wooden fragments floated, all too small to bear his weight.

For a long moment, Marco could only stare in amazement. From what he'd understood, Sabo was a complete and utterly green rookie. She was a noble, for gods' sake.

Yet here she was, having somehow managed to back an Admiral into such an unfavourable position. While keeping a small fleet at bay at the same time.

Marco would love to know how the girl accomplished that feat exactly. It had cost her, that was more than obvious from the livid burns she sported and the fact that more than half of her hair ended in black-singed frizzles, but that she was still standing at all – without taking too terrible injuries even –after managing that much was testament to her strength and determination.

Marco had the feeling this would make for a very interesting story.

He would get her to tell him everything about it later, Marco decided. Maybe after instigating a round of bets with a few others.

If he had to hazard a guess, he'd gamble on arrogance on the part of the marines, and the element of surprise on hers. With the way she was dressed, Marco was fairly sure Sabo had imitated Ace while she played decoy. Which would mean the marines had expected flames, not animals. Most certainly not animals with Haki.

If he'd been capable of it in this form, Marco would have smirked.

Akainu obviously did not appreciate getting humiliated, and was doing his level best to sink her without toppling himself into the water.

Time to put another damper on the Admiral's mood.

He made for a stoop, only for feathers to fill his vision.

He cursed, startled, and quickly pulled out of his dive, muscles burning briefly from the strain. The eagle that had intercepted him so rudely screeched something at him that sounded almost like human words.

Marco frowned. He assumed that the eagle was Sabo's doing, which made him wonder why she would stop him from interfering. Did she have a plan he was about to ruin?

A glance down at the battlefield told him that could easily be the reason. Sabo was locked in an intricate dance with Akainu, and with how furiously the Admiral was attacking her, a distraction could well mean a hitch in her steps she couldn't afford.

… And there came the answers, Marco thought, deeply amused. Two brightly coloured dots had separated from the swarms of birds circling the area.

Parrots. Clever.

"A pleasure seeing you here, Mr First Division Commander," they squawked with polite nods the moment they were in range, and yes, that was definitely Sabo speaking. All courtesy and proper manners, as if this was a meeting in the park instead an aerial encounter in the midst of battle, with an underlying tone of exhausted mischief.

"Hi. Need some help?" Marco asked, somewhat teasingly.

The parrots' eyes were chips of pure calculation as Sabo sized him up. "Yes please. Could you split Akainu's attention? Preferably without getting behind him."

"… That's a specific request, yoi. What are you planning?"

If parrots could smirk, these would. Instead, they looked as manically cheerful as was possible for ordinary birds.

Marco was starting to like this girl more and more.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo guided her animals with great precision, watching the Phoenix fall in step with her eagles.

One more piece to the game board, but oh, what a piece it was. She could feel him almost like one of her animals, which was interesting and offered all kinds of intriguing theories about Zoan users, but she refrained from experimenting out of courtesy. And because she was busy, of course.

Sabo almost wished she could speak to the Admiral. Make him see the mistake he had made by hunting her brother so determinedly.

Because for all their pirating ways, her brothers and she had always differed on one fundamental characteristic.

Ace and Luffy were far better people than she.

Her brothers were incapable of malice. Anger, yes, resentment, yes, the kind of berserker rage that made grown men tremble, gods yes. But not malice. Not the kind of hatred that gnawed at your bones and poisoned your heart.

Unlike Sabo.

That was the big difference. She was selfish and vicious and possessive. Hatred and spite came as easy to her as breathing.

She was a nobleman's daughter. No matter how much she wished she wasn't, that venomous blood ran through her veins.

Those who tried to take what was hers, those who tried to harm one of the only two people who mattered to her…

Sabo could not forgive them.

Ace would have a hard time killing in cold blood, Sabo thought viciously, but she didn't have that problem.

The Phoenix was as competent as his reputation promised, stooping steeply at Akainu's right. For the first time since the start of their dance, the Admiral's attention truly split to assess this new, more pressing threat.

It only took a moment.

Her rifle barked, her bullet narrowly missing the Phoenix's outstretched talons. Magma sprayed like a raindrop hitting pavement and then vanished, leaving only a bleeding forearm instead of the first of molten rock it had been before.

In that same moment, a part of Sabo burst from the water, talons out and maw wide open, a lion's roar in what passed for her lungs.

The Phoenix barely managed to pull out of his assault in time.

Amidst the wreckage of the smashed raft, a human shape sunk slowly but steadily.

Sabo's entire being focused on that shape. All the pawns she had collected turned with that intense attention.

She would not allow it to sink any further.

Akainu would die here today. Sabo would put him down like the mad dog he was.

Teeth bared, she charged once more.

The last thing she saw before red filled her vision was a visage of hatred so pure it made her smile.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Marco steadily climbed higher, feeling sweat trickle down his neck as he watched the water below.

A single crimson stain bloomed like a rose between the waves.

It was surrounded by frothing bubbles and lashing tails.

Ruthless.

Marco almost felt pity for the Admiral. That did not look like an easy death.

He twisted in the air, ready to yell at the reckless brat that almost shot him-

The words died before they passed his lips. Instead he rushed to the Striker, because Sabo was no longer standing.

He found Sabo on her knees, clutching the Striker's near non-existent railing in one hand and her rifle in the other, and looking seconds away from passing out.

Marco was halfway surprised she hadn't toppled into the ocean already.

Marco landed lightly, not wanting to test the damaged little ship's remaining resilience. Sabo barely reacted to his arrival, only opening her eyes a little to watch him.

She made no move towards one of the other weapons he could see laying ready and waiting at her side.

Marco knelt before her, cataloguing her injuries with an experienced eye. She didn't look greatly injured, to his relief. There were some rather nasty burns on her, but with Akainu as her opponent, that was in no way surprising. Far more surprising was how few there were. The worst seemed to be on her left shoulder and arm, a dense splatter of pockmarks were magma had splashed like water across her skin, painting it with the ghastly white of dead flesh and deep blisters, and the livid red of less severe burns. Removing the remains of her shirt without aggravating the wounds further was going to be a pain.

Though the most eye-catching injury was a smattering of smaller marks that ran down the side of her face and narrowly missed her eye. For her sake, Marco hoped she wasn't very vain about her face. Or her hair, for that matter. It looked like the attack that had injured her shoulder had also been responsible for the missing chunk of her hair.

None of the burns were charred black though, which meant Sabo's Haki had been good enough to keep the most of the heat at bay. Upon closer inspection they weren't that deep either, which was nothing short of impressive.

"Hey…" Sabo mumbled, the beginnings of a tired grin playing around her lips. "My eyes are up here."

Marco snorted. "I'm not concerned about your eyes."

"Urgh, are they that bad?"

Marco eyed her wounds a little longer, and shrugged. "Not as bad as I expected. They need to be cleaned though. Good thing you were only wearing a thin shirt and your bra. Less charcoal to wash out of them."

Sabo hummed. "Figured I wouldn't like a lot of cloth sticking to my wounds. Just glad I didn't end up naked." Her lashes fluttered, a sure sign that her eyes wanted to slide closed. "Then again, that would probably make for a good punchline or something…."

Marco gave in and chuckled. He supposed it would be unreasonable to hold a grudge, given the result.

"It already is a pretty good story, yoi," he assured her. "Plenty of punchlines to choose from, from what I can see. I want to hear it all later."

Sabo hummed again, a pleased smile stretching her mouth wide. "Maybe if you buy me dinner. I'm starving for a good meal."

"Deal. Now come on, yoi, I need to get you back to the Moby. Your burns aren't life threatening, but they definitely need treatment."

"As you wish," Sabo muttered, trying to heave herself to her feet. Marco grabbed her under her uninjured arm and helped her up. She swayed were she stood, and he did not miss the continuous tremors in her limbs. He hoped they were only from exhaustion.

"Think you can hold on for a short while?" he asked, watching her speculatively.

For a moment, Sabo seemed unable to comprehend his words. She tilted her head and looked at the items at her feet. Besides the two rifles there was a pistol, a knife Marco recognized as Ace's, and a staff that had remnants of cooled magma sticking to it. Sabo must have blocked some attacks with it.

"Maybe. But I don't think I can bring my weapons." She looked mournful at that admission.

"Don't worry about the weapons, yoi. We'll need to salvage the Striker anyway, so you can leave them aboard."

"Oh. Okay."

Marco didn't usually take people on flights, but for this once he made an exception. The Moby was still quite a way away with several uncontrollable but still functional marine warships between them, and he had a bad feeling about Sabo's health. If she was as much as Ace as Marco suspected, she was hiding a ton of issues right now.

Unlike most, Sabo only marvelled over the feel of his feathers for a second, before climbing on. Given that he wanted her aboard as soon as possible, Marco appreciated it.

He felt perfectly justified when Sabo settled against his back and he could feel how bad the trembling really was. Her movements were stiff and pained from the effort to keep them in.

Marco almost told her he changed his mind when her arms came around his neck and closed like a steel collar; not too tight, but with a determination to them that told him he would have better luck trying to pry her off with a crowbar than to get her to let go. Her knees pressed just as tightly against his sides.

He flapped his wings once to test the waters. The Striker wobbled, but the giant fish Sabo had used before efficiently steadied the little ship by pressing their backs against the sides. Marco checked on his passenger one last time before launching himself into the air.

They were soaring above some of the marine ships – and were getting cursed and yelled at by the furious crews – when Sabo took a turn for the worse.

His only warning came in the form of a violent spasm that momentarily cut of his air, before Sabo started to shake and convulse. It took effort to remain steady in the air, worry gnawing at him with vicious teeth as Sabo's grip slackened and tightened unpredictably.

He did not miss the little whimpers and choked off whines she was trying to smother in the feathers of his neck either.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Marco had to circle down slowly so not to risk Sabo slipping off, and the extra time it took him to land on the Moby's deck had been more than enough warning to the brothers watching him that something was amiss.

The moment his feet touched the deck, Sabo slid off his back and collapsed in a heap.

Haruta yelped and leaped forward, managing to catch her before her head bounced off the thick Adam wood. "Oi! What's wrong with her?"

"Not sure," Marco replied as he transformed back and smoothly kneeled beside her. "But it's pretty bad."

There was no way it wasn't, he thought grimly as he watched the tremors increase exponentially now Sabo was on solid ground. Froth was gathering around her mouth, and Marco had the feeling she wouldn't be talking for a while.

"It does feel rather awful," a cultured female voice agreed with him.

Marco's eyes snapped to the den den mushi that was still sitting on the barrel where he had left it. Incidentally, the barrel was right next to the place he'd landed and gave a good view of Sabo.

The den den mushi was staring at Sabo with an unhappy frown.

"Sabo, yoi?" he ventured.

The den den mushi glanced up at him before returning its eyes to where they had been focused on before. "That's me," the snail confirmed.

"What's wrong with you," Haruta asked her. "Did Akainu hit you too hard or something?"

The snail scoffed. "Hah. No. This is not because the Admiral hit me a few times. This, is simply the price of my Devil Fruit."

At their uncomprehending stares she sighed. "I can take over animals, crawl into their skin, share every single one of their senses, use them as an extension of myself. Basically make them a part of me. The downside of that is that I also feel it when they're injured. Or killed."

A grin appeared, wide and bright and somewhat deranged. For some reason, Marco had the feeling those gleaming teeth should be stained with blood. "I couldn't keep an exact count, but I know I experienced several hundred deaths in under an hour's time. Every single one of them as if they were my own." A nod at her own body. "The psychological feedback and the physiological response to those deaths are what're nearly killing me now. My body can't handle the stress."

For a moment, Marco's breath stilled in his lungs. Well- that was- fuck.

No wonder she was having seizures.

"How are you still conscious," Marco growled, using his weight to pin her convulsing body to the deck, forcefully rolling her on her side to reduce the chance of choking. The froth at her mouth was thickening and he really didn't like her breathing or the pulse he could feel thundering though the vein at her wrist. Both breathing and pulse were so erratic he was worried she might to drop in cardiac arrest any second. He snarled at the nurses to hurry up.

"I'm dissociating," came the dispassionate reply. The den den's eyes were glazing over. Marco didn't need to be a medical expert to know that was a bad sign. "I don't like the weird shit my heart is doing. 'S worse than a dancing rabbit high on sugar and strange mushrooms. And my lungs're all stuttery and shit. Stupid lungs. So I'm hiding out in the den den mushi, which sounds even sadder than I thought. Sorry I'm being all pathetic."

"You are quite coherent," Izou remarked, helping Marco hold down her kicking legs, while at the same time trying to wrap one of the bear skins around her. Sabo was losing body heat so quickly it was frightening. The skin was quite gross and unhygienic and Marco had no doubt Izou was going to complain about the smell later. But for now it worked for keeping her warm.

"I'm not. Really, really, really not. I have no idea what I'm saying. I'm dizzy and I can't think and I'm just babbling whatever comes to mind at you. I'm too tired and my own body feels awful. Kinda like I'm dying, which, I know how that feels, okay? Stupid mad dog and his marines killed more than enough of my animals for me t' know. Burned, shot, blown up – no matter what, dyin' fuckin' hurts okay. My poor animals. I didn' want them to die..."

Okay, yeah, this girl was definitely losing her grip.

"You're not dying," Marco replied, trying to remain calm, both for her sake and his own. After all Sabo had done for his little brother, he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if she died on their watch. It was a great relief when the nurses burst through the doors and sprinted towards them, all kinds of equipment in tow.

"Good. Ace would be upset if I'd died," Sabo said plaintively. Almost dreamily. "So upset. No one does upset like my brother. He'll yell and scream and, I dunno if he'd cry but he'd prob'bly cry… And then he'd run off an' do something suicidally stupid, 'cus he's got no self-preservation when he's upset…" The snail stared into the distance, expression blank in a way that made Marco wonder whether Sabo was still there.

"... Hey, Mr Phoenix?"

"What is it, yoi?" he asked gently. He really didn't like how her body was starting to weaken… On one hand, tremors dying down, good, on the other, her pulse was getting fainter and fainter and her breathing was uncomfortably shallow.

"Don' let Ace run off and do something stupid? I don' want him t' do something stupid. I won't be there t' help him if he does..."

"I won't let him run off," Marco promised. No way he was letting Ace out of his sight now he was finally back. Brat could complain all he wanted, but after this fiasco Marco felt exactly zero guilt about denying him and assigning him a team of babysitters.

"Thanks. If he's difficult, put 'im inna chokehold. 'S harder t' run off if someone's applying pressure t' his jugular whenever he tries t' move."

"Did that before, did you?"

"Hm... yes... Ace's so damn stubborn… St'pid older brother… I should've b'n the older one, 'm far more responsible…"

Marco snorted, and several of the other Whitebeard Pirates scoffed at that claim. Izou chuckled. "Sorry dear, but I'm afraid no one here agrees. You two seem remarkably alike."

"'M better," Sabo mumbled, a sure sign she was fading fast. Damn, damn and damn again.

Sabo was somehow still aware enough to notice his quiet cursing.

"'S no' so bad, y'know... Dyin'. Don' hurt that bad, really...," was her faint mutter. Marco really didn't like the den den's dazed expression. Sabo's real face had already gone entirely slack, eyes closed and jaw hanging limply open, which was far too corpse-like for comfort. "... Leas' I did somet'n cool wi' me life..."

The den den mushi shuddered. Perked up, and started to look around curiously.

"Get her to the infirmary NOW!"

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Saying Ace did not take the arrival of his sister in the infirmary well was an understatement.

Marco was one of the people who carried Sabo's stretcher inside, and thus had a front row seat to Ace's reaction. It was even more awful than he had expected.

There was a reason why he had hoped Ace would be unconscious already.

Ace usually put up a tough front. Not now though. Even Thatch had not warranted this level of terror and dread.

"… Sabo? Is that… Is that Sabo?!"

"Jozu," Marco yelled, shifting his grip to take over his brother's burden. He had been afraid this would happen.

Jozu rushed forward. Not for the first time, Marco was glad that every public space in the Moby was built to accommodate Pops. Jozu needed the space that wouldn't be available in a normal infirmary to pin their little fire starter to his bed.

Ace was putting up one hell of a fight despite his weakened state, flames flickering across his hands and torso as he struggled. Luckily, the temperamental kid had enough sense to keep himself from setting the ship alight, but from the sheer panic on his face, it was a near thing. His screams were heartrending, barely broken by his sobs.

"Jozu, let me up! Let me see her! Sabo! SABO!"

Ace's expression as he took in as much as he could of Sabo's limp form would haunt Marco for a long time to come. Ace didn't even seem to notice the tears rolling in rivulets down his face.

Marco could guess what Ace was thinking, and it was like a sucker punch to the gut to hear his little brother sound so desperate and broken.

"Ace, calm down!" he ordered as he helped the nurses deposit Sabo on an empty bed. "Sabo's alive!"

The sudden stillness in Ace was almost as horrible as his screams. Jozu looked just as wary as Marco felt.

"She's alive?"

Marco wanted to wince. The sheer hope in Ace's voice…

"She is," he confirmed.

"… Then… Then why's she not awake? What happened?"

Macro wasted a few seconds making sure the nurses had everything they needed to help Sabo. Hesitated, because seas and skies, he did not want tell Ace.

Sighed, and steeled himself. He owed it to his younger brother to look him in the eye when he broke his heart. Ace was going to feel responsible, and Marco did not know how to convince his brother he wasn't. Marco had already tried everything he could think of with Teach, and this was had all the signs of being worse.

He turned, and yeah, this was going to suck.

Ace was wide eyed and smiling. Smiling and shuddering from the strength of his sobbing at the same time beneath Jozu's diamond-covered hands, because his sister had survived against all odds. But the fear in Ace's eyes told Marco louder than any words that Ace knew how much room there was for horrors between 'well' and 'not dead'. And he was imagining every single one of them.

Beating around the bush probably wouldn't help here.

"She kept a marine fleet at bay long enough for us to arrive and killed an Admiral. She exhausted herself, yoi."

Ace's mouth was a thin line as his eyes darted between Marco, Jozu, and the nurses. His lips trembled and turned downwards. "That's not just exhaustion," he said, the words sharp and hard like an accusation. "It isn't, right? The nurses wouldn't be needed if it was just that."

Marco seriously considered lying. But with Ace so hurt and afraid, he didn't dare.

"Sabo suffered through several consecutive seizures. Most of them severe enough to almost kill her," he stated bluntly instead. "The nurses think she'll be fine if she lives through the night. I'll stay up to make sure she does, yoi."

Apparently that was the wrong approach, because so much blood rushed from Ace's face in such a short amount of time Marco for a moment thought they had missed several arterial bleedings.

"No," Ace whispered. "No, no, nonono-"

"Ace-" Jozu tried to interrupt.

"NO! Sabo can't- I don't-" Ace gasped for air, tears strangling his words like his throat was caught in a giant vice.

Ace still had a fever, Marco realized with sudden clarity. And while Sabo had put effort in treating his injuries, she was no trained medic, and she had had to work with very limited supplies to boot. The inflammation had been pretty bad in some places.

Shit. If the stress ended up worsening Ace's condition, Marco wouldn't forgive himself. He had more than enough experience to pass for a qualified medic, he shouldn't be making mistakes like these.

He rushed to Ace's side, helping Jozu keep their younger brother pinned as he writhed like a snake beneath their hands, his panicked gasps thin reedy sounds that made Marco's stomach clench with concern. "Ace, calm down, yoi," he said almost pleadingly. "Calm down, she'll be fine. We'll make sure of it. The seizures have already stopped-" Marco didn't mention how Sabo had probably been repressing them for nearly her entire fight, "-and now her animals are no longer dying she probably won't have any more, yoi. From what I've seen she's as stubborn as you, she'll be fine."

"Her animals?" Ace stilled, eyes sharp and suspicious and still spilling tears across his cheeks. "Her animals caused this?"

"Her animals continuously getting killed caused this," Marco corrected, watching carefully.

Horrified realization filled his eyes, and Marco realized with startling clarity that Ace hadn't known what using her animals might do to his sister.

"Her animals were never killed before?" Marco asked disbelievingly. He couldn't believe that. He hadn't forgotten Sabo's claim that she had dealt with the Blackbeard Pirates on her own. Permanently. Given the rumours that had made the rounds when that crew was still running around, there was no way that had been easy.

Ace quailed and looked away. "They did, but not- She didn't…" he grimaced, distress twisting his features.

"She never showed this reaction before, you mean?" Marco said thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes at nothing in particular.

"Yes." Ace looked utterly miserable at that admission.

"Hmm." Marco considered the implications of that. "So it is the number of deaths, not just deaths in general, that are affecting her, yoi."

He recalled Sabo's words. Was this what she had meant? he wondered. If so, her chances were both better and worse.

Better, because she had obviously recovered from her animals' deaths before, and had done so without alerting Ace that something was wrong.

Worse, because that meant she had never put herself through anything close to this amount of stress, and there was no telling how her body would handle it.

"We will be vigilant," he promised Ace.

"I want to be there," Ace demanded.

Marco raised a brow. "You don't honestly think we'd let you out of the infirmary, did you?"

"That's not what I meant!" Ace bit his lip, struggling to hold back from vocalizing the flood of conflicted emotions that played across his face. "I mean…"

Marco tilted his head. "I suppose we can put the two of you in one of the bigger beds," he allowed. "But only after the nurses are done treating Sabo and you'll promise to behave, yoi."

It was almost a relief to see the affront on Ace's face. It was a far more familiar emotion than the ones he had displayed before. "She's my sister. I wouldn't hurt her!"

"I know. But I'm serious when I say you can't move her, yoi. Her body will need to rest."

"I'll be careful," Ace swore. From the look in his eyes, he had never meant anything more.

Marco supposed that was the best he could hope for. "Good," was all he said, before he returned to the nurses to help them.

The entire time, he felt Ace's eyes at his back.

The brat behaved as promised though, and Marco felt confident when he placed the two of them in a bed that was usually meant for people Jozu's size. Ace immediately wriggled closer to his sister, but unlike the hug Marco had halfway expected, Ace only grabbed the wrist closest to him and felt for her pulse.

There was just enough time to see pure, undiluted relief flood Ace's face before his younger brother was out like a light.

Marco snorted, amused despite himself.

What a pair.

He groaned and returned to the upper deck. The sea was still swarming with marines – despite that the more creative captains could steer their own ships by carefully adjusting the arrangement of their sails and were already booking it as well as they could – and that required clean up. He hoped his brothers had left him a few ships to vent on. He needed it, after this whole madcap, overly emotional ordeal.

Pops was watching him arrive with a mix of amusement and concern. "How are they?"

"They'll need some time, but I'm fairly sure both will be alright, yoi."

Pops grin was almost a match for his moustache. "Good. Now then. Let's teach those pesky marines a lesson, my sons!" he declared, voice rumbling across the deck like thunder.

"AYE!"

"Oi, that's not fair!" a faint voice protested from across the waves.

"Shut up, we're pirates!" Haruta hollered back. "Screw 'fair'!"

Marco just shook his head and took to the air. None of their crew felt like playing fair right now. Not with the evidence of the way the marines went after Ace and Sabo scattered across the waves before them.

The Whitebeards would teach the marines a lesson alright, no matter how redundant after Sabo had given them such a thorough scare.

Marco was looking forward to it.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Sabo, was the nurses verdict, had really overdone it. A combination of intense exhaustion, lack of proper nutrition and health care, and severe psychological and emotional stress had resulted in a near catatonic state. Chances were that she would wake up, but no one could predict when.

Ace wasn't taking it well.

No. That was an understatement. Ace was taking this worse than the mess with Teach, and Marco hadn't expected that was possible.

With Teach's betrayal Ace was filled with fire and fury born of guilt. With Sabo hurt to bring him home, he was a mass of misery and self-hate.

The main difference was, Marco thought darkly, was that with Teach, Ace had been able to do something. Something that could burn off the toxic emotions Teach's actions had roused. What Ace had done had been stupid and obviously no task he should ever have undertaken alone, but it had been something to keep him busy.

No one could help Sabo wake up, and the one who was mostly to blame for putting her in that state was dead at her own hands.

All Ace could do now was wait.

It had just been a few hours, but already it was obvious it was destroying him.

Marco sighed, watching his brother sit motionless at Sabo's side. No one knew what to do about Ace, which meant they were leaving it to him and Pops to figure something out.

Macro didn't know what to do either, but doing nothing was most certainly not the answer.

So far, any attempts to talk with or distract Ace had been shot down before they even started. None of their brothers could stand seeing their firecracker like this. One blank stare had most shuffle their feet and look for a way out. It didn't help that there was still plenty to do. They had finished teaching the marines why hunting any of their own was a bad idea, but the Moby had taken some damage and preparations had to be made to return to the New World.

Marco knew Izou would have tried, but was too busy coordinating three Divisions since Thatch had not been replaced yet and Ace was in no state to fulfil his duties.

However, if there was one thing Marco knew was that letting Ace stew was not going to solve anything. Which was why Marco had decided to give the tried and true method a shot, and was bringing a plate of food as an excuse for his visit. Ace needed to eat anyway.

Marco wanted some answers. Might as well try to get them now, he thought to himself.

Marco had known Ace had a sister and that she was forced to live with her noble parents, but that was all Ace had told him about the mysterious Sabo. Marco could not deny that this girl, whom he had imagined as weak and delicate but who instead turned out to have a spine made of pure stubbornness and spite and so much guts she bordered on suicidal, had piqued his interests like few things could.

Ace had been the last one, come to think of it.

Ace was still as stone where Marco had last left him, looking like he'd barely moved a muscle since he had fallen asleep next to Sabo. He was awake now, though, eyes blank as empty slates as he stared at his sister. One hand held her wrist while the other clutched the tattoo on his shoulder. It was a sad sight.

A S L, Ace had once told Marco after Marco had asked, stood for the three of them; their siblinghood. Ace, Sabo and Luffy. It was how Marco had learned of the existence of Sabo in the first place. The tattoo was a message to Sabo that she would forever be one of them. A promise that had been as important and serious as taking Pops mark had been.

And now Sabo might never wake up, because she had sacrificed herself to get Ace safely home.

Man. This was all damn depressing.

Marco settled down in the visitor's chair at Ace's side, putting the plate on the nightstand.

"I brought you food, yoi," he stated bluntly.

Ace did not react. Did not even seem to notice Marco was there.

"You better eat it," Marco added. "The nurses will be pissed if you don't."

For the first time Ace reacted. It was just a small, indifferent shrug, but Marco took it as a sign that Ace was at least listening.

"Don't make me force-feed you, yoi."

"'M not hungry," Ace rasped.

"I don't care," Marco shot back. "You need to eat. I won't have you starve just because you're worried, yoi. You won't help Sabo that way."

The glare Marco got for that was impressive in its intensity. He had only seen such a dark look on Ace's face back when Ace was still furious at Pops and trying to kill him.

"I mean it Ace," Marco said, meeting those furious eyes with a flat look of his own, just to hammer the point home. "You will eat, whether you like it or not. You're still ill and injured. I won't let you make it worse."

When Ace still looked mulish and rebellious, Marco delivered the hardest hit he could think off. "What would Sabo think of you refusing to eat just because she's not well?"

Ace recoiled. Glared baleful hatred at him, but did sit up to take the plate.

In a different situation Marco might have felt some satisfaction. All he felt now was sadness.

For a long moment, he studied his youngest brother as Ace ate. The anger had bled out of Ace's form already, replaced by the bone-deep guilt that had been there before.

Ace looked like shit.

Marco looked at the girl in the bed.

Sabo looked like shit too.

What the hell, he thought, and just started talking.

"You two are really alike, you know that? She also assumed that we weren't serious when we told her we wanted to help, yoi. Just like you, when we told you we wanted you as our brother. What the hell is up with that?"

Ace stared at him for a moment in numb confusion. Then he averted his eyes. He rubbed first his eyes and then the back of his head.

Ace's voice was scratchy and hoarse when he finally replied, and Marco wished he had brought water with him. "Well… I'm not sure?" Ace replied hesitantly. Cleared his throat. "It's just… You know, as kids, we never had reason to trust anyone? Pretty much always, the only time people meant what they told us was when they said they hated us and wished we'd die. Most people just did not give a crap and rather had we disappeared forever, you know. Weren't shy about telling us that either."

A heartbeat of silence, nowhere near enough for Marco to get over the sudden incredulous fury clogging up his throat.

"You were actually one of the first to actually mean what you said. And kept meaning it, even though I was horrible to you," Ace continued softly, staring forlornly into his stew. "Only Sabo and Luffy ever did that."

"Your crew?" Marco managed to get out.

Ace shrugged and reluctantly took another bite. "That was different. I was the one to recruit them, not the other way around."

"That explains you," Marco said with measured calm he did not feel. "But Sabo didn't grow up with you the whole time, now did she?"

Ace snorted. He stared at his stew again and put it aside with a sickened expression. Marco narrowed his eyes, but decided to let it rest for now. He was going to bug the brat about it later, but if Ace preferred to talk for now, he could accept that.

"No, but that makes her actually worse than I am," Ace said with a measure of disdain. Not aimed at Sabo, Marco guessed. "Everyone in Grey Terminal and Goa was shit, but I had Gramps and Luffy and Dadan and the bandits, and later Makino and some people from Foosha too. And my crew of course. And most forest animals don't bother tricking you, they just try to eat you. Sabo only had her shitty noble parents and the other shitty nobles. Those people don't keep promises, ever. Even if you help them. Maybe especially if you help them. If you're not one of theirs, you don't count."

"She trusts you, doesn't she, yoi?" Marco asked dubiously.

"Yeah, but she knows favouritism, okay? Better than anyone here, probably. Doesn't matter if I tell her you would help her too. I have been wrong before lots of times and you're my brothers. Not hers. No matter how many stories I told her, she doesn't know you, and you don't know her. She already gave you as much trust as she could. Almost all people she ever met are assholes enough to take what she did for me and leave. Nobles and Grey Terminal residents and common goddamn people – all of them would have told themselves they couldn't help and left her to face the fallout alone. Why do you think she fought so dirty?"

"That's-"

"That's just the way it is," Ace interrupted. "Out of the three of us, Luffy is the only one who can blindly put his trust in people. Sabo and me, people need to prove we can trust them first."

Marco rubbed a hand over his face. He wanted to point out how Ace did not seem to have any problem trusting random strangers as long as they didn't attack him, but… that was just superficial, now he thought about it. Just a cheerful, careless mask Ace used to see who would go for his seemingly unguarded back. As soon as things got dangerous Ace became as wary as an alley cat. As proud and vicious as one too.

Kids their age shouldn't be that jaded damn it.

"Please tell me this will be enough proof?"

Ace blinked. "Um, probably? She won't start trusting you fully until she's gotten to know you better, but I'm sure you've all earned a chance to try. Did when you took me in, really. Well, with that stuff with Teach you'll all have to earn her trust individually, but that's only fair…"

"Right," Marco sighed. "Right. Well. I'll tell the others not to mess with her for a while, yoi."

"Probably for the best," Ace told him, eyes sad but thoughtful. "Sabo has no sense of moderation when people piss her off. She pretends she does, though, which makes it confusing. You don't want her to hurt anyone too badly. She can be vicious," he said with obvious pride.

Marco gave up. All he got from this was that Sabo was as crazy as Ace, and they both had trust issues the size of the Grand Line.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you're twins," he sighed.

That, more than anything else seemed to throw Ace out of kilter. "Eh, not really? I mean, someone said so before, once, but we're not that alike. The three of us, we fit together, but if we'd been that alike we would have killed each other within the year. I mean… I don't know how to explain it, but… think of it as the difference in our Fruits. It's probably not a nice thing to say, but… our Fruits suit us really well. Luffy is so cheerful and optimistic he bounces back from anything, I am a bit of a hothead – shut up, I know, okay! Just because I can't help it doesn't mean I don't know – and Sabo…" A sigh. "Sabo's, well… sneaky. And pretty underhanded when she wants to be. She won't play fair if she thinks the risk's too high."

Ace tilted his head, considered his comparison, and nodded to himself. "Us together, we balanced each other. But we're nowhere near the same."

Marco stared for a moment, think it was downright weird to see Ace so open and willing to reveal things about himself.

That thought stirred a dark suspicion. Marco's heart sank.

His eyes fell on pale gold, and the sleeping face of the young woman who was obviously so important to his little brother.

Did her presence really make that much of a difference?

Marco made a mental note to tell everyone not to push Ace for a while. If Sabo being hurt left Ace emotionally compromised enough to speak so openly about personal things he would otherwise have kept silent about, they should not go digging.

It would be taking advantage, to use Ace's vulnerability to gain insight in Ace's psyche because he was too emotionally unbalanced to guard himself. It wouldn't be right if they did that.

Of course, that would mean Marco would have to stop asking personal questions as well…

Marco shot another glance at Ace's too pale face. His younger brother's eyes were red-rimmed and dull with worry and fatigue.

He looked back at the sleeping Sabo.

He would stop asking questions, he promised silently. But if Ace wanted to talk, Marco would be there to listen.

He would not push, but he refused to abandon his brother when Ace was so obviously upset.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace stared at Sabo's sleeping face, and gently tucked a stray lock behind her ear.

Marco's questions had made him think. Sabo… he really didn't know what to do about Sabo.

She had been his first. Not his first in anything specific, having been the first in far too many things to count for that, but just his first in a general sense.

Most importantly, she had been the first person to ever look at him, face his temper and his rage and still see someone worth befriending in him.

"If it wasn't for her, I never would have been able to join you," he confessed quietly, ignoring the feeling of Marco's intense gaze on him.

I never would have had accepted Luffy either, Ace thought. Luffy had been far too loud and open for a kid as scarred as him to trust without knowing, down to the core of his soul, that trust was something that was possible to have in someone.

Sabo had taught him trust. Trust, and care and friendship and empathy and all kinds of other things. Reading and sailing and Sabo had been the one to lay the foundations of his manners and so much more…

No. Without Sabo, Ace likely would have remained entirely alone. She was the one who made the effort, had been the one to choose him, him!, as her friend, out of the countless others that frequented the trash heaps.

Not that she had made that decision instantly…

And neither had Ace made it easy for her.

When they'd first met they had clashed; argued and fought over a prize they'd both been eyeing. Ace didn't even remember anymore what it was. As a result they had tried to kill each other for months on end, though luckily without much success. Ace had had more experience hunting, but Sabo had been clever and vicious and terrifyingly good at pulling a dozen different factors together into an improvised assault that was more effective than anything Ace could come up with even with two days of preparation. Ace still had the scars she'd given him with some of her traps.

Then a bunch of assholes had gotten fed up with their fighting, and had forced the two of them to work together to survive against the large group of adult men.

Only after that they had joined forces. And it was Sabo who had taken the initiative for that, citing self-interest and how teamwork would make them even stronger than they already were.

At least, the reasons Sabo had given for continuing their collaboration had sounded like pure self-interest. It had been the key that had allowed her to get close to him. Back then, Ace had been able to trust very little, but selfishness and mutual benefit had been two things he had been familiar enough with to take a chance on.

Luffy's idealism was nice but near impossible to allow oneself to rely on without actions backing it up. For a kid as angry and suspicious as Ace had been, it had been way too good to be true, and anything too good to be true had to be a trap as far as he'd been concerned. If it hadn't been for Sabo proving it was, in fact, possible for someone to want him, him specifically, without any thought of backstabbing or using him, Ace would not have stopped trying to kill Luffy, and likely would have succeeded sooner or later.

Yeah, Ace thought with a self-deprecating smile. He really would have been nothing without Sabo.

He had no idea how to explain this to Marco though.

"Wake up, you idiot," he told his sister with burning eyes. "I still need you, damn it."

His shoulders hunched when Marco wrapped a gentle arm around them, and Ace buried his face in his brother's shoulder.

"She'll wake up," Marco told him softly. "She's like you; way too stubborn to stay down."

Ace laughed, a horrible grating sound, and it was like a dam bursting. Marco just stayed quiet and supportive, as the tears Ace had tried to hold back spilled over and fell.

It took several long minutes, but finally, Ace managed to choke out, "It was all the same again, you know? Her trading her own life for mine. I never wanted her to do that again- never wanted to give her another reason to do that… Some brother I am."

"That's not your fault, yoi. Never. What happened is all on the marines for escalating things far beyond what was reasonable. Sabo did the best she could and she stayed alive until we got there. You should be proud of her, yoi." A hint of a smile crept into Marco's voice. "Don't be too hard on her when she wakes up. You would have done the same if your positions were reversed, you little hypocrite, and you probably wouldn't even have thought to ask for help, yoi."

Ace glanced at Marco, tears still blurring his vision, before turning his eyes away again. "…. I would have asked for help. For her I would have."

"… Exactly alike, whoever was the one to say you were twins was a genius, yoi."

Tiny hints of a somewhat genuine smile crept over Ace's face. "That was Makino. To be honest, she didn't say it because we were alike though. It was just… For a long time, Sabo and I didn't know who was older. We didn't tell each other our birthdays until Luffy made a huge fuss about it. Guess we didn't really want to know. Makino said that twins didn't always look alike, and since we were both the older siblings and somewhat the same age, there was no reason why we couldn't be twins if we wanted to. Only after that did she say we shared some similarities."

Marco smiled too, warm and encouraging. Ace knew that was the smile Marco used to put people at ease and for once, he couldn't be bothered to get mad about that. Ace hated that look, but he didn't want Marco to leave right now.

"Well, that's certainly true. And no matter in what order the lady said it, she was still spot on, yoi."

The corners of Ace mouth lifted a little again. They dropped hard and fast as he glanced at Sabo once more.

Ace shuddered, both his skin and bones crawling with an undefinable urge to do something, as if his emotions were trying to claw their way out of his body by force.

"I just want her to be alright," he said, words cracking into a wail and he was just too tired to care. I just want my sister back, he didn't say.

Marco seemed to hear him all the same, and held him as he wept once more.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Crying had seemed to have done Ace some good, but the way he still refused to set foot outside the infirmary was concerning.

It had been almost a week. Without the seastone leeching all his energy from him, Ace's health had bounced back with the same ease they were used to. The moment he had been proclaimed healthy, Ace had allowed the nurses to move Sabo to a bed of a more fitting size, and he had promptly planted himself at her side again with absolutely no intention to move until she woke up.

It made the nurses seriously consider to move Sabo back to the giant bed, if only so Ace would finally get some proper sleep as well.

Personally, Marco had the feeling Ace's concern for Sabo was starting to become more and more of an obsession. That most certainly wouldn't be healthy.

Ace needed to be distracted, right now.

For that purpose, Marco recruited Izou, Haruta and Jozu to drag Ace outside for some much-needed fresh air.

"Come on, Ace," Haruta cajoled, seizing Ace's arm and refusing to let go. "Up you get. The nurses can look after your sister for a while. And Jozu will be watching her for you, won't you Joz?"

Jozu nodded and gave Ace a thumbs up.

"But-"

"No buts," Izou decreed, taking hold of Ace's other arm. "You look like a ghost. Some fresh air will do you some good."

"Marco-" Ace started, flailing between his two brothers and turning to Marco for help.

"Out, Ace," Marco interrupted. "Izou is right, yoi. Moping here isn't doing you any good. You need to start helping out on the Moby again. Your Division is worried about you."

Ace looked at the three Commanders with a look disbelief that bordered on betrayal.

Marco refused to feel guilty.

"But what if she wakes up?" Ace accused.

"Then Jozu will come and tell you," Marco replied. "Come on, Ace. You're not staying here even if I have to drag you by your ankles, yoi."

Ace shot him a look more mulish than a caravan full of mules. He opened his mouth to argue, but Marco did not give him the chance. Just sighed and reached for his stubborn younger brother.

Figured I would still have to drag him, Marco thought to himself, Ace held in a chokehold like Sabo had suggested. It was pretty effective.

Haruta walking behind and making jokes about it with Izou was in no way helpful though.

Ace clawed at his forearm, twisting around till he could get a breath of air.

"Marco-" Ace started to snarl, heels thumping against the steps of the stairs in an attempt to resist Marco's pull.

Marco all but threw Ace through the door to the upper deck. "I warned you," Marco reminded him placidly, before Ace could start yelling.

Ace didn't seem to think that was a valid argument. Marco sighed and braced himself for a fight.

Ace was such a brat.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace got up, fury bubbling in his veins.

He knew Marco meant well, but he had no right.

Sabo shouldn't wake up alone. That Marco dared suggest it filled Ace with rage.

Ace breathed out a plume of fire, flames dancing across his shoulders and casting his face in threatening shadows. "And I told you no-"

They were interrupted by a duet of upset screeches that echoed across the deck, startling Ace out of his rage. His flames disappeared just as two frazzled balls of feathers dropped from the sky to land with scrambling claws on the Second Division Commander's shoulders.

"Hey- What- Wait, Polly? Cyper?" Ace exclaimed, too surprised to care much about the scratches.

"Keeping an eye on you, mister," Cyper squawked sadly, rubbing his curved beak against Ace's ear. Polly was silent, instead clamping her beak around dark strands, making a dejected attempt at grooming Ace's hair.

"Parrots?" Haruta asked curiously, following Marco out of the door. Marco looked almost fond at the sight of Sabo's little spies. What was up with that?

"Sabo's awful sense of humour," Ace corrected, stroking the two birds' soft little heads.

Okay, so maybe they had grown on him. Sabo probably wasn't going to make too much fun of him for it. Not if she wanted him to keep tolerating them, anyway.

"She uses them to watch me," he admitted grudgingly.

"And they're called Polly and Cyper? Why would- Oh." Izou smothered his chuckles. Haruta blinked and started to grin.

"Yeah," Ace sighed. "Like I said. Awful."

"Oh, I don't know, yoi. I rather like it," Marco said, reaching out to run a finger down Polly's back. "They're a pair of sweethearts, that's for sure."

"They are?"

At their strange looks, Ace shrugged awkwardly. "I always assumed Sabo was constantly controlling them, so wasn't sure what was her and what was them. You've been taking care of them?"

"Yes," Marco confirmed. "Someone had to. There are a couple of other animals that also showed up, yoi. You know what's up with the eagles? And the two decapuses? I didn't even know decapuses could be trained. After the way the other decapuses were killed, I did not expect two of them to stay."

Ace grinned bitterly. "The eagles are Sabo's eyes. She was using them to help look for Teach. I have no idea about the decapuses. What are decapuses anyway? Are they those kraken-things she recruited? Have you been feeding them?"

"Huh. First the mice and the parrots, now eagles and giant cephalopods. How many animals does she have?" Haruta asked incredulously.

Ace shrugged, not feeling like providing an answer. He couldn't be sure anyway. Instead he quirked his eyebrows at Macro.

"Yes to both your questions. Except for the decapuses. Those have been providing for themselves, yoi," Marco replied.

Izou was watching Ace speculatively, but kindly let the topic of his sister drop when Ace glared at him. "Well," he said instead. "Touching reunions aside, there is some backlog you need to deal with. I'm not doing it anymore now you're well enough to be discharged…" He trailed off menacingly.

Ace paled.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace was scowling at his dinner. Marco still wasn't letting him return to Sabo. He viciously speared a meatball, imagining it to be Marco's face.

"Don't play with your food," Izou scolded absently.

Ace bit down with emphasis, maliciously imagining crushing Izou's head. He glared at his brother.

Izou pretended to ignore him.

Snowball, Sabo's popcorn mouse, had made a beeline for Ace's pockets the moment Ace had entered the mess hall, much to the surprise and confusion of his brothers. Ace fed her a bit of mashed potatoes.

"Polly wants food," Cyper squawked, sampling Ace's meatballs for itself. Ace sighed and rolled the one Cyper had pecked at off his plate. Polly joined Cyper in demolishing the meatball.

"I don't think that's good for them," Haruta remarked, head resting on his palm. He made no move to stop the parrots.

Ace shrugged. "They survived the raw fish."

"Hm."

"I'll tell the kitchen to give their dinner to you, next time," Marco sighed.

"What did you feed them?" Haruta asked Marco.

"Seeds, nuts, and fruit, mostly…"

Ace tuned them out. Snowball squeaked and tilted her head endearingly. Ace ran a careful finger over the fluffy curls on her back.

Polly and Cyper shuffled over for some petting too. They crooned and wriggled beneath his fingers.

Despite himself, Ace smiled a little. It was like having little pieces of Sabo with him. He knew Sabo wasn't borrowing their senses, being unconscious and all, but she had let them carry out their natural behaviour so often the feeling was still there.

"Watching you," Cyper crooned, fluttering its wings.

"I know," Ace told the bird softly, not wanting his brothers to comment. "Sabo trained you good, didn't she?"

Cyper shuffled its feet and tilted its head back till the parrot was looking Ace straight in the eye. Polly mimicked Cyper with cheerful accuracy. Even Snowball wriggled into a position where she could look at him.

"So it seems," the birds said in unison. "I did not expect them to keep carrying out my wishes once I was out for the count, but I have to say I am pleasantly surprised."

Ace froze. With him, his brothers tensed, watching him warily.

Ace hardly noticed. He was staring at Cyper and Polly, halfway convinced that he had imagined their words, because if he hadn't that would mean-

The look in the parrots' eyes was as close to soft as it could be. "Hello, Ace," they said gently.

"Sabo," he breathed softly, eyes wide.

"I'm not sure where I am, but the ladies in skimpy nurse outfits are in a tizzy," Sabo said with tired cheer. "I don't think I can escape unnoticed. Come break me out?"

Ace was out of the door before any of his brothers could react.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Marco jumped up, ready to tear after the firecracker that had just rushed out of the hall as if death was on his heels. Red filled his vision.

Marco startled, reflectively batting away crimson feathers.

They tumbled away and bounced across the table. But while they did so they were no longer red.

Perfect, flawless obsidian.

The bird righted itself without any sign of injury. "That was rude," it stated.

Marco blinked. His eyes flitted between Cyper and the door Ace had just bolted through. "Well… I did not expect you to have this kind of timing, Sabo, yoi."

"You do not know me yet, Mr Phoenix," Sabo replied cheekily. "Though out of curiosity, what makes you say that?"

"This is the first time in almost a week Ace had left your side, yoi. It took a lot of effort to get him to leave too."

"Really?" Sabo's words were soft and amused. "I'll brace myself then."

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Ace jumped the entire length of the stairs in his haste, and almost slammed into a wall when he skidded around a corner. His breaths were near painful stabs in his chest.

He couldn't wait, he had to see-

The doors nearly broke off their hinges when he slammed through them. He ignored the startled screams, instead rushing to Sabo's bed. He barely noticed Jozu stepping around him and outside to give them some privacy.

Ocean deep blue met his own stormy grey. A tired smile curved his sister's lips.

"Good morning?" she said playfully.

"Sabo." Her name was almost a sob. Sabo grunted weakly as he pulled her into a tight hug. He felt tears start to trickle down his face when Sabo's arms embraced him in return.

"Hello, Ace. I'm glad to see you are well."

"Idiot," he gasped. "You're such an idiot."

"Yes, yes, your comment has been noted, Mr Pot. What have I missed?"

"What have you missed?" Ace laughed helplessly, relief so thick he could barely breathe. "You almost didn't wake up, stupid!"

"Didn't I?" Sabo said lightly. Her grip tightened noticeably in defiance of her unaffected tone. "You didn't honestly believe that, did you?"

"I didn't know what to think. You were almost dead, Sabo!"

"And leave you alone? I would never do that to you."

Ace felt fury bubble up beneath the relief, like a sea king surfacing from the deep. Now she was finally awake, Ace could get angry with his sister for her stupid, stupid stunt. "No? Do you have any idea how close it was?!"

He jumped to his feet without waiting for an answer, instead marching to the infirmary's restroom, where he yanked the small mirror off the wall. He stormed back and slapped it in her hand.

"Look at yourself! That is what you did to yourself!"

Sabo quirked her naturally condescending brow, but obligingly inspected her reflection.

Ace watched her take in the changes with his heart keening in pain in his chest. Angry red scars ran down the side of her face like paint splatters, laying thick as fall leaves on her shoulder and arm. Her neck, and back were peppered with the ugly spots too.

But worse than the scars were the thick, snow white bands among pale gold, where shock and stress had leached the colour out of the wavy strands; a permanent reminder of exactly how close she had come to tipping herself over the edge.

Sabo studied her face, her hair that now only reached her shoulders since the burned ends had been removed and the remaining length evened out, and blankly stated, "I don't see a problem."

Ace felt himself explode.

Fire roared to life on his back chasing the nurses that had been warily approaching to the furthest corners of the infirmary.

"How can you say that!?"

Sabo was unmoved and calmly placed the mirror on her night table. "Quite easily. I have never cared much about my looks. This is a small price to pay for your safety."

"A small price? A small price?! You nearly died!"

"I don't see why you are so upset. It is not as if it's any different form the stunts you used to pull."

For a moment, Ace couldn't breathe. "That was different!" he hissed.

"Truly? Enlighten me," Sabo said sharply, anger starting to seep in her eyes as well. "Surely you will not dare claim I should not have done all I could to save you?"

Her last words were sharp and pointed and a challenge.

Ace snarled, and met it head-on. "You shouldn't have."

Sabo rose from the bed, as slow and inexorable as the rising tide. The air became heavy with her anger. "Ace-"

"Well, you shouldn't have! Just look at you! How could you do that to yourself?!" Ace gestured angrily at the livid burns trailing down her face and the snow-white streaks in her shortened hair.

"How could I?!" Sabo spat, almost chocking on her indignation. "How could I!? Look at yourself! You were in no shape to fight! Like hell was I just going to hand you over!"

"I'd rather if you had! Just how many times did you die for me? I never wanted you to-"

A slap, harsh and loud, echoed through the room.

"I don't care," Sabo said coldly, the words hissing like furious frost from between her teeth. "I don't care if you're angry or not. I don't care if you wanted this or not. You. Are. My. Brother. But do not think I need your permission. I will never regret fighting for you, and you can't make me."

Flames slowly receded. Ace's lips trembled. His eyes glistened wetly. "Stupid," he said, voice cracking. "You're so damn stupid. I never asked you for this."

Sabo only held out a little longer before she sniffed too and angrily wiped her eyes. "Idiot. I promised I'd have your back, right? You will never need to ask for as long as you can stand to call me your sister."

Ace's embrace was strong enough to make her ribs creak, but all Sabo did was clutch back just as hard. "You'll always be my sister," Ace said, voice thick and damp with emotion, wetness dripping down to soak her shoulder. "Even if you're a moron."

Sabo smiled though her tears. "Better get used to me looking after you again then. I'm not letting any stupid marine lay their hands on you, no matter what it costs me. You're my idiot brother, and I will never yield you up."

"Stupid sister. No way am I letting you out of my sight if you go do suicidal shit like that," Ace shot back weakly.

Sabo laughed. And if there happened to be a lot of gross sobbing, there was no one who dared point it out.

"So," they heard Izou venture from the doorway. "Does that mean we're keeping her?"

"Yes," Ace declared resolutely. "Yes, we're definitely keeping her."

Sabo heaved a put-upon sigh but did not protest.

Behind them, Marco sighed. "I'll inform Pops."

For the first time in a long while, Ace felt a truly happy smile stretch his lips to their max. He dried his eyes. "No. No, I'll do it."

He grabbed Sabo's hand. "Come on."

"Ace, I don't think the nurses will appreciate- Oh, whatever. You're not going to listen, are you?" Haruta sighed. Marco and he moved to follow, sharing commiserating looks.

"Doesn't look like he will," Izou lamented, jogging to catch up.

"He rarely does," Sabo supplemented as she followed along with an indulgent expression, stumbling only a little after having spent so much time lying down. She erased the trails of tears from her cheeks with the cuff of her sleeve, manoeuvring carefully around her burns. She eyed Haruta thoughtfully. "Also, weren't you the one with that utterly ungraceful accusation?"

Haruta winced. "I'm very sorry about that," he quickly assured her. "I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. That was incredibly unfair of me."

"Hmm. In that case I forgive you. I have to apologize too. I did not mean to hand you your head quite that viciously. I was having a bit of a bad day, and I'm afraid I took it out on you. My most sincere apologies for that," Sabo said airily.

"… Thanks," Haruta said dryly.

"You accused my sister?" Ace asked, turning his head to glance at Haruta. "Man, that's stupid. Even if its something she's actually done."

"How very kind of you to say so, Ace," Sabo murmured sweetly, breathing slightly harder from the strain of keeping up with his pace up the giant stairs leading to the upper deck.

"You know it's true," Ace grumbled, pushing the massive door open with one hand. "You always get more nasty when you don't want to fess up about something."

A hush fell as Ace and Sabo stepped out into open air for the first time since their arrival. Especially the white in Sabo's hair and the burns on her face drew many eyes.

Sabo held her head high, not even seeming to notice to attention as Ace pulled her along. One of her eagles swooped down, taking position on her uninjured shoulder to stare sternly at any and all pirates that looked at Sabo wrong. On both sides of the Moby, massive octopus-like arms reached over the railing to brush against her sides. It was a good thing the Whitebeards had become somewhat used to regular check-ins, so no one tried to attack them. Sabo patted them gently, before shooing them back into the ocean.

Ace and Sabo came to a stop in front of Whitebeard's chair. Whitebeard sat up and set his tankard aside to give the siblings his full attention.

Ace grinned widely. "Look Pops! This is my sister, Sabo! She's staying!"

"Pleasure meeting you, Captain Whitebeard," Sabo said with a polite curtsey, a mischievous smile on her face. "My apologies for barging in, my brother is feeling hopelessly clingy right now. I would be most grateful if you allowed me to indulge him."

"OI!" Ace yelped, horrified. "That's not how it is at all, Sabo!"

Laughter rang across the deck, Whitebeard's the loudest of all. "Gurarararara! Welcome aboard, cheeky brat!"

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

Hours later, with the moon above them and a party in their honour behind them on the deck, Ace and Sabo sat together, staring out over the sea.

Neither spoke much, but then, this was not the time for frivolous words. Instead, the endless night sky invited more important words to be spoken.

"I'm sorry for worrying you," Sabo said softly, breaking the fragile silence between them.

Ace glanced at her, before his eyes returned to the waves. The only sign that he had heard her was the lip he was worrying between his teeth.

"Next time I'll be stronger," Sabo promised quietly, with all the solemnity of a lifelong vow. "So strong I won't even need to fight dirty to win."

Ace watched her for a moment, contemplative and quiet. "I promise that too," he said brusquely. "I will become so strong that no one will be able to defeat me, no matter what trump cards they hold. So strong you'll never have to sacrifice yourself for me again."

Sabo smiled and clinked their mugs together. "It's a promise."

Ace smiled back and toasted her. "To kicking ass and winning."

Sabo echoed that toast with a laugh. Behind them, there was a crash, and the Whitebeard Pirates cheered loudly.

Ace and Sabo shared an exasperated grin and returned to the festivities, eager to see who had just made a fool of themselves. And if their shoulders brushed in a soft press of comfort and reassurance, then they were the only ones to know.

XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX(xxxx)XXX

The wind sighed. A longing sigh. A wishful sigh. The ocean muttered comfortingly, knowing the play was far from over. It was the mere closing of an act. Whether the next act would be comedy or tragedy neither would know. But they would be there, watching.

Always.

The wind murmured assent, and, ever restless, left to carry tales to distant shores.

Waves chuckled, and settled down to watch once more, this endless play of mortals. And if they fondly caressed the hull of one of their most familiar ships, well…

Only the wind would dare comment.

Things that also happen in this 'verse:

Two weeks later, Sabo's bounty poster is published. Her bounty is incredibly high for someone previously unknown. She's happy that it's a lot higher than Ace's first bounty, but absolutely furious they used a cropped image of one of her family portraits as a picture.

Luffy sees it too and is so incredibly proud he convinces Nami to get it framed by a professional. Sabo is not happy when she hears.

Stelly's and the other Goa noble's reactions cannot be described with mere words. The closest comparison is a community-wide stroke.

Sabo is so offended by the picture that she purposefully commits several large crimes just so the marines have increase her bounty and publish a new poster.

The entire world is incredibly confused about why this pretty nobleman's daughter has such a high bounty, until they read the reason. Then they're just convinced the marines must have made a mistake. There are a lot of jokes made. Then her next bounty poster comes in...

Sabo's a lot happier with her second bounty poster.

Ace spends most of his time during this whole fiasco laughing and egging her on.

I am toying with the idea that the Yajuu Yajuu no Mi's awakened powers would allow Sabo to also control Zoan users/other people. Because an awakened Fruit is supposed to be terrifying and that would be terrifying. I am not sure how well they would be able to fight her control. The stronger ones probably at least a little.

Also, the two decapuses (which are really just kraken-sized octopuses with ten arms) are later on named Sweetpea and Honeybunch, because Sabo loves messing with peoples' heads. Ace finds this very funny.