The fighting had left most everyone exhausted. Beaten and battered and hardly in any shape to be wandering about, they were splayed out across the ground as whatever able-bodied men remaining tended to their many stresses. Sabo was one of them. He was one of the very few who made it out of that horrible ordeal almost completely unscathed-mind you, his fight got… postponed, so he hadn't really had to do much of the heavy lifting in this one. Even that Koala wasn't too happy about, and he was certain he'd hear all about it on their voyage back to the base.

Luffy had, though, as had that companion of his, Trafalgar Law.

To say he was a bit of a wreck was an understatement, and even with most everyone there assuring him that Luffy was fine and well and happy and good, he just couldn't pull himself from the nagging thought: "But what if he's not?"

They weren't letting him in the palace room where his brother was laid out, were still treating those very serious wounds he'd received from that final battle with Doflamingo, and the most nervewracking thing he'd ever experienced was to sit in another room lined with the beds of injured men, uncertain of his sibling's condition. There was that nagging feeling in the back of his mind that reminded him of Ace, and how he hadn't been there. For Luffy to have been right there, right within reach, and to still end up hurt…

Even if he would be alright, Sabo could not forgive himself.

Koala, ever observant as she was, was never one to allow his anxieties to fester. She'd told him to help the patients there however he could, in particular one Trafalgar Law-and while he reminded her that he was her superior, he never made to go against the command. No, he trusted her too much for that.

He brought the bowl he was holding to rest in his lap, frowning at the stubborn man lying on the mattress before him. "You need to eat."

"I can feed myself."

He gave Trafalgar and exaggerated roll of his eyes, "You can't move right now. Aren't you supposed to be a doct-"

He heard the clacking of shoes against linoleum and cut himself off, his head snapping around to find short hair and soft eyes, and he was to his feet and crossing the distance to the doorway without a moment's hesitance.

Sabo was brought to a room down the hall to find his heavily bandaged brother sitting crosslegged on a mattress, shovelling food down his throat like he hadn't eaten in days. Relief washed over him, his lips curling at the nostalgic image set before him, and he leaned against the doorframe, content to watch.

"Ahhhhh, Sabo!"

Luffy, however, was not.

A face-splitting grin was there to meet him when he blinked, given no time to react as a rubbery appendage wrapped around his arm and yanked him closer, and he stumbled with a yelp. The blond barely managed to catch himself on the bedframe before he chanced crashing into the boy. He let out a sigh of relief. It'd been a whole twelve years since he'd last felt that… "Careful, Lu. How are you holding up? Does it hurt?"

His brother furrowed his brows in a look of deep thought that was foreign on his face. "Mmmm… nope! Not really! But I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry," he pointed as he took a seat on the edge of the mattress, leaving Koala to stand in the doorway.

"Ah, how's Torao?"

"He's fine."

"Is his arm back?!"

"Ye-"

"It was soooo cool! He was all 'room' and then he moved it and started-"

"Luffy, I can't understand if you don't-"

"Sabo?"

The blond blinked confusedly at his brother, deep brown orbs staring back at him. "Yes, Lu?"

"Join my crew!"

Sabo blanched, his eyes going wide, and even as a refusal was on his lips he remained quiet, his eyes roving over the endless wrappings covering his brother's arms and disappearing beneath his shirt. If he were with Luffy, on the same ship, if they were together…

He could protect him.

"I-" A sudden burning pain to his ear had him shutting up real fast, and he reached out blindly for his sibling as he was pulled to his feet and out the door by a strong force. "Ack! Luffy-"

"Don't even think about it!" Koala huffed, and he had to wonder how someone so small could carry such strength. "I can't believe you were just going to accept, just like that... Take your position more seriously."

"But he needs-"

"He's done alright without you so for," she said with a sigh, dragging him by force down the hall. "And come on, I know you. Acting on impulse like that… You're just as reckless as he is."

Sabo pressed his lips together, arms falling to his sides as he allowed himself to be pulled back into the room with the patients. She was right, she was always right, and for the second in command of the revolutionary army to even consider the offer was absurd. But, well…

He would do anything for his little brother.

Anything.

Adieu~