This story is co-written by both Syrisna and Rose7anne101, you are welcome to check our other works.

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The chapter was beta'd by the wonderful Black' Victor Cachat, he has written some amazing stories, go check it out yourself.

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Our awesome Cover Image is done by Syrisna. :)

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This story will be posted in both of our accounts.

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.A/n: HELLO WE ARE BACK AGAIN! Hope everyone is doing fine now! The Covid-19 pandemic is slowly settling but still, don't be careless now. Who knows if and when there'll be a second wave. Anywho, this chapter, meaning chapter 7 will begin on the morning of their fourth day on Dawn Island.

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We don't own One Piece (things would be different if we did).

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"Dogra, what are you holding?"

"Oh, this? It's Boss' scrapbook...uhhhh I mean ours! Our scrapbook, that is. Gotta capture the moments, you know?"

"Yeah. Too late. I heard you. I'll be taking this."

— Sabo

As it turned out, it was four in the morning when Sabo woke up again. Or so he thought when he squinted to read the numbers on his pocket watch (a pocket watch was a requirement for any true gentleman).

Guess that explains why it's so dark. His mind supplied. And why I'm so tired.

Sleeping on the floor didn't help either. He was sore all over, and Sabo just knew he'd be feeling that crick in his neck for a while. He always did whenever he slept on floors. According to Iva-chan, it was written in the smallest print possible in the mission guidelines that joining the Revolutionary meant you voluntarily gave up on quality sleep. Although, the Okama Queen seemed to sleep just fine wherever she was. He wondered if he could get her to tell him the secret without being forced to become an okama himself. Maybe it was her hair. That gigantic, curly, purple, bed hair-resistant afro that remained impeccable no matter how, or where, or even when she woke up. He would have chalked it up to being a 'female' thing, but Koala's bed hair was even worse than his, so it was more likely some sort of secret okama technique. He sure hasn't seen any of Iva's 'candies' show up with less than perfect hairdos. Thank goodness for small mercies.

The only source of light in the house was the faint moonlight shining in through the windows, providing just enough illumination for Sabo to see Dadan sprawled out on the floor a few feet from him, even though her room was only ten steps away, dead to the world. The rest of the family covered the rest of the ground, their snores permeating the silence. Hack, on the other hand, was tucked against the wall in a corner, far from the bandits who preferred to pile together.

Blearily, Sabo wondered where Koala was.

A faint sneeze reached his ears, and he turned to find the brunette fast asleep two feet to his right and shivering like a leaf.

Sighing, Sabo pushed himself off the floor and made his way over to her. He shrugged off his coat and carefully draped it across his friend, making sure to cover her as much as possible.

Figures she would remember to bring earplugs and not a blanket. Sabo rolled his eyes at the little rubber plugs stuck in Koala's ears. Ah well, she always did complain that us men snored worse than whales during mating season. Makes you wonder where she got that comparison from.

That being said, he was actually glad that she'd brought them. If Dadan's earlier shouting had woken her up, it wouldn't have ended on a good note. Koala was an absolute demon when it came to her beauty sleep. Interrupting it without just cause tended to result in violent reactions. Enough said.

Sabo sat down near her, taking care not to accidentally jostle her, just far enough that he could stretch his legs out and lean against the wall comfortably.

With nothing else to do except wait for sleep to reclaim him, the blonde let his mind wander back to Dadan's sudden tirade the first time he woke up. For someone who was supposedly asleep, she was overly energetic, though that could be chalked up to adrenaline.

That, or she was sleepwalking again. And shouting. Again.

Personally, Sabo thought the latter was more likely.

Her words rang clear in his mind.

"WHY TWO YEARS? YOU SAID YOU'LL MEET LUFFY IN TWO YEARS? What do you know, brat? And how do you know it?... Don't 'huh' me, brat! How do you know about Luffy? I thought you said that you haven't gone to meet him yet? Did you lie to me, HUH?"

She yelled this in his face and then promptly fell back asleep. Luckily for him.

He'd completely forgotten that he'd let that slip. If he was in luck, Dadan would hopefully remember nothing of it tomorrow otherwise he'd have to risk some serious complications concerning his job to explain it. After all, as much as these bandits were family, he could hardly risk any hint of who had told him this getting out.

Two years, he wistfully thought.

Two short words, but they felt so very long to him.

And you used to call me impatient. He could literally hear Ace snorting at the hypocrisy.

Yeah well, Sabo thought, guess what? Turns out we're all impatient pricks.

Perhaps it was the influence of all the sleeping people around him, but slowly, Sabo felt his eyelids getting heavier.

Within minutes, he was fast asleep.

...

Ace, watch over Luffy, will you?

Two years wouldn't be very long.

Just a little longer.

I'll take over soon, I promise.

"...aww, look at them."

"My teeth are gonna fall out."

"Huh? Why?"

"What?"

"Why are your teeth going to fall out?"

"You moron...he means they are so sweet that it's making his teeth rot. Rotting teeth fall out."

"Oh, I see. My teeth would have fallen out too, but I have only sixteen left, so I can't really part with any."

He heard some groans.

"They're adorable!"

"They lied to us, didn't they?"

"Someone go get Boss!"

"Hurry up, she'll be furious with us if she misses this."

"And they said they weren't dating."

"I knew he was lying. They are definitely together."

"So cute~"

…

"Will you guys shut up." Sabo muttered, opening one sleepy eye and glaring at the bandits crowding around him with large grins that were unnerving for some reason.

"Ohho, finally back with us are you, sleeping beauty?"

"You mean sleeping prince, the sleeping beauty is beside him."

Something pushed against his thigh, and in his sleep-hazed state he instinctively reached out to it.

Huh?

"See? Lying."

"Hey, where's the camera?! We gotta get this picture before he's fully awake!"

"Where's Boss?"

"I've got it!"

"Hurry up!"

Click. Click click click. Click click click click click click click.

If the incessant chattering hadn't managed to rouse him, the consecutive camera flashes certainly did the job.

"What the—!" Sabo's eyes snapped shut and he jumped. Or he would have if it wasn't for an unfamiliar weight on his thigh.

He had a faint inkling of what was going on, but just to be sure…

He looked down, and as expected, his right leg was under Koala's head as a substitute for a pillow.

And his hand… his hand was tangled in her hair.

Oh.

OH.

FUCK.

Untangling his fingers gently, he retracted his hand quickly and turned to give the bandits the evil eye.

"Not. A. Word."

Magra blinked. "We didn't say anything!"

"Except that you two are, dare I say it, teeth-rottingly adorable." Dogra followed without missing a beat.

Sabo scowled. "Shut up. Go away. You never saw any of this. Or else…" A large grin replaced the scowl as he drew his thumb horizontally across his neck. "You won't like it."

The bandits froze.

"Oh and erase those pictures. If Koala sees them…." he trailed off. He didn't bother repeating the gesture. If there was one thing these bandits have learned from their time under Dadan, it was to never cross a woman. Especially if said woman could easily beat each and every one of them. A category which Koala no doubt fit into perfectly.

That and he was pretty sure the grin he was sporting was unsettling enough already.

Iva had always told him that a smile could be used as a weapon. If done right it can topple dynasties. He didn't always understand or agree with Iva-chan's logic. But he did find early on that his grin could make full-fledged adults back off, without him uttering an extra word.

Koala shifted, turning over so she was facing Sabo, and he instantly stiffened.

"What time is it..." She mumbled in her sleep.

"How 'bout that?" Dogra smirked. "The brat's whipped."

Apparently, the need to tease Sabo overpowered any self-preservation instincts the bandits possessed (or maybe his bed hair was worse than he thought and was diminishing the effect of his grin). The blonde wondered if he should remind these guys why he used to be called a devil alongside his brothers. He would play his 'gentleman' card, but it was a lost cause with the bandits. Not when they knew exactly what he was like as a kid.

"It's half past eight." Sabo replied, decidedly ignoring Dogra's remark. He would deal with them later. "Time to wake up, your highness."

"Shut up, blondie." Koala groaned and rolled again so she was face-down in Sabo's leg. She lay still for a moment before pushing herself up onto her elbows.

"What's going on?" She yawned, noting the bandits gathered around them.

Seeing as the girl was now awake, the rest of the bandits quickly dispersed, leaving only Dogra and Magra with the two revolutionaries.

"Where's Hack?" She looked around, more alert now. "And what's this—oh, it's your coat."

"You're welcome." Sabo said, stretching his hands above his head and enjoying the feeling of his stiff muscles reviving. He would have stood up, but his leg was still a little numb.

"Thank you, nice pillow." Koala yawned again and ran a hand through her messy hair.

"For the millionth time, I'm not a pillow, but you're welcome." He took his coat from Koala's outstretched hand and pulled it on. "Anyway, we should probably get going soon. It's a bit of a trek to the Gray Terminal, or what's left of it anyway."

"The Gray Terminal's the same as ever." Dogra grunted. "Not as big as it was before, but pretty much the same."

Sabo shrugged. That was just how things were. Some things just never changed. Except Dogra's comment about the trash mountain did remind him of something crucial which he'd very nearly forgotten in all the excitement.

Information.

The Goa he remembered was one from ten years past. There was bound to have been changes here and there, and Sabo did not want to go in blind.

The Revolutionaries did have more recent information, yet honestly there weren't as much as Sabo would've liked. It was guaranteed that there would be certain information that only locals, especially those who weren't bound to the law, would be privy to.

"Koala," He called towards the backroom, where the brunette had gone to freshen up for the day. "When you're done, go get Hack first. There's a few things I'd like to talk about with Dadan before we leave."

Koala poked her head out from behind the door. "Should I be worried?"

"Just a bit of preparation, is all. Oh, and while you're out, could you get breakfast as well?"

Sabo ducked, barely missing the hairbrush that was thrown in his direction.

Aboard the Liberty, Crutch was having an absolutely horrid day. For the umpteenth time, he cursed the irresponsible blonde that was supposed to be leading this mission.

He had known masquerading as merchants would be tiring, it wasn't his first time doing something like this either, but no one had told him that people in the Blues would be so much more annoying to deal with than the typical Grand Line folk.

"For the last time, NO, YOU CANNOT GO IN THERE. Those are restricted areas and are OFF LIMITS to non-crew members. Especially to children."

Crutch tried to keep his voice and temper level. He really was trying, but at the same time, these pint-sized demons were seriously trying his patience. He'd repeated himself seven times already, but his words always went in one ear and out the other. Why was he even putting up with these prissy noble kids anyway?

...right, because he didn't want to deal with their parents.

Damn it, if these kids weren't a vital part of their disguise, he would have thrown them off the ship already. One would think being born into nobility would install some semblance of manners into them, but the parents were just as bad. All snobbish and degrading.

And the Den Den Mushi just had to start ringing then.

Purupurupuru...purupurupuru… It continued ringing for several moments, yet no one moved to answer it until Crutch finally snapped in irritation.

" For fuck's sake, will someone pick up that stupid snail already!" One of their newer recruits immediately dropped the crates in his arms and dashed into the comm room. What was his name again, Der-something? Ugh, never mind…. he would think of him as 'newbie' for now. All of the personnel for this mission were chosen by Koala and approved by Dragon himself, but there were still some new faces, and with things so hectic it was hard to remember.

He was usually good with names, but this situation really wasn't helping his brain function properly. Damn, he missed sailing in the New World. At least the storms and ocean didn't need deciphering too much; you knew where you stood with them, they came straight at you with intent to obliterate you. Unlike people and children.

"Finally!" He growled when the ringing ceased and spun around towards the group of noble kids who were attempting to sneak away again, even after his many warnings. "And you! One more step and I really will throw you off the ship, customers or not!" Tired of curbing his temper, Crutch outright threatened.

At least it served his purpose, since the snotty kids finally gave up.

He was loud enough that Sabo could hear him over the phone.

"Why is Crutch shouting?" he asked. Their navigator was usually quite even-tempered, unless it had something to do with Sabo, but that was beside the point.

"Well, sir, you see…" The recruit wondered how he was supposed to explain the ridiculous situation on hand. "It's complicated."

"Well, I'm sure it's not all that hard. Just tell everything as is," the glee in his voice was rather obvious. "After that, could you bring him to the phone?"

"...Yes, sir."

…

"Sir," The recruit poked his head out the door. Crutch was exactly where he remembered, right outside the door glaring at five kids. "It's from the 'blonde pain,'" he said quietly. Did the newbie just avoid eye contact? Or was Crutch reading too much into it?

"Ugh, I thought it was about time," he groaned. "Watch these midgets. Don't let them out of your sight until they leave, or god forbid I will throw them and you into the sea if they go anywhere that's not the deck or the showroom." To hell with their parents and the blasted mission.

"Yes, sir!" The recruit stood to attention instantly.

Without another word, Crutch stomped into the comm room and slammed the door shut.

"Well, someone got up on the wrong side of bed today." A familiar voice sounded from the receiver that had been left on the table.

"Sabo!"

"Ooh, nasty, aren't we?" On the other end, Sabo grinned. Crutch growled warningly. "Okay, okay, I won't tease anymore." He waited until he received affirmation that the other had calmed down before he continued. "I actually did have something to talk to you about."

Koala and Hack, who had been training outside, had gone to procure breakfast while Sabo made the call. Laid out on the floor in front of him was a map of Goa, its corners pinned down by empty rum bottles.

"Have you seen the Gray Terminal?"

It took Crutch exactly five seconds to realize what Sabo was referring to. "If you mean that trash mountain, we passed by it when we pulled into the harbor."

"I see. Which end is the ship docked at?"

"The southernmost end. Pretty much right next to the trash mountain." Crutch answered on reflex. "Why?"

Sabo noted down their position on the map before he replied. "We'll be rejoining you later tonight. Don't scream if you see someone climbing up the side, okay?"

"Please," Crutch rolled his eyes. "Who do you take me for?"

"Our poor navigator who can't handle five children?"

The blonde's response left the navigator speechless for all of one second.

"That traitor!" He knew it! Newbie was clearly avoiding his eyes out of guilt. But if he thought showing guilt would be enough to appease the navigator then he was sorely mistaken. Crutch would rearrange the Assigned Duty rosters tonight. He hoped the newbie loved having cleaning and night guard duty in the same week.

Sabo clicked his tongue. "Traitor schmaitor, we're all on the same team, remember?"

"Not when someone sells me out, we're not."

"You're overreacting," it was Sabo's turn to roll his eyes. "They can't be that bad. Certainly not as bad as I was."

"Are you being serious now?" Somewhere down the line, their topic of conversation had shifted from the mission to plain old banter.

"Believe me, if I were a kid now, you would not want to meet me," Sabo snorted, recalling how he and his brothers used to terrify people for fun.

"You grew up in the Army, Sabo." Crutch deadpanned.

"I did." Sabo hummed. "But I meant before I joined."

"You were what? Twelve, thirteen?"

"Ten would be more accurate."

"I don't know, I was in South Blue at the time. Some other guys told me you were a little terror back then. I wasn't sure I believed them, but right now I'm becoming more convinced by the second."

"If it helps, people used to call me monster, even before I joined."

"..."

"And, well..."

"I don't want to know, and I never will," Crutch said vehemently. Curiosity killed the cat, after all. Ignorance was bliss in such cases.

"Anyway," Sabo said amusedly, as he rolled the map up. "How are things on your end?"

Crutch shrugged. "So far so good. One of the other ships is scheduled to leave later today, so their trading spot will be open. The harbor managers promised to rent us their spot for the next week, starting tomorrow."

"And our clientele?"

Crutch grinned. "It's going as expected." Sabo was an immature brat most of the time, but he had to give it to him, the blonde was smart and devious as hell. "As per your instructions, we only brought out the least valuable pieces to sell in the market. The rest we set up in the deck and a 'special' showroom inside the ship, and as you predicted, the upper class came knocking almost right away."

"They actually came in person?" Sabo asked skeptically. Sure, they were selling themselves as Grand Line Merchants, which was more than enough to draw attention in East Blue. Still, just because they were from the Grand Line didn't mean they could afford to be careless. After all, this was an important reconnaissance mission where stealth was vital to its success. Sabo had stressed to the crew many times the need to show a 'we have nothing to hide' attitude to both the town authorities and the nobles, especially the harbor officers. Given the kind of things that the blonde knew went down in this so-called 'kingdom', he wouldn't put it past those assholes from Goa to ask to conduct an unwarranted inspection, and threaten to deny them entry to the harbor if they refused.

For all his planning and predictions though, Sabo hadn't actually expected any nobles to visit the ship. Not with their 'money-fix-all' attitude anyway. He'd even instructed the crew to comply if, instead of visiting the ship, the nobles asked them to bring their wares to High Town.

"Yup. Those kids outside right now are children of two low-ranking nobles. They came with their parents."

"Did you get their names?"

"Heinou Dorothy and Lasmi Caros. Ring any bells?"

"Maybe." Sabo tried his best to remember. The names sounded a little familiar, but nothing really came to mind. Must not have been particularly important, then. Crutch did say they were low-ranking.

Footsteps sounded outside the bandit's hut.

"Well, keep it up. We'll see you guys tonight."

Sabo cut the call just as Dadan walked in, nursing a bottle of sake.

"You're still drinking even though you're already hung over?" The blonde quipped, the tiniest bit of concern seeping into his tone. Being drunk and hungover at the same time couldn't be comfortable. Or healthy. And it was early morning.

"Eh, why do you care? You're leaving soon anyway." The bandit boss sat down next to him and took another swig. "You're going to Goa?"

Sabo felt an unknown tension leave his shoulders; she clearly didn't remember. The alcohol and the adrenaline rush combined had definitely done their thing. He knew he shouldn't have been too worried.

Although, now that he thought about it, it was hysterically comical! Only Dadan would come charging in loudly, and then five seconds later drop to the floor fast asleep. And snoring like a whale if he was allowed to use Koala's descriptive words.

They were the only two left in the house. The rest of the bandits were out doing… whatever it was they did, and Koala and Hack were not back yet.

Sabo shrugged. "Work."

"Work, eh?" Dadan chuckled. "Word is there's this noble bastard called Stella or whatever courting the princess, whatever her name is."

"Sarie Nantokanette." Now this name, on the other hand, dredged up bundles of memories. Including memories of a certain asshat whose name Sabo's pretty sure wasn't 'Stella'.

"Yeah, that one. That bastard, you know him, don't you?"

"I honestly wish I could say I don't, but unfortunately I can't." Sabo shrugged and let his hands fall to his side. "How'd you know?" He'd never told anyone except Ace and Luffy.

Dadan hiccupped. "Garp." She drained the remains of the bottle. "After you 'died,' he poked around and found out your real identity. 'Oldest son of the Outlook family,' he told me. Pretty famous name, even out here."

"I gave up that name a long time ago."

"I know." The bandit groped around for another bottle but found them all empty. "I know what he did to you three, too. Bastard of bastards, that noble. Put Bluejam up as well."

"Bluejam?" Sabo parroted. He recalled Mox saying something about how Ace and Luffy were seen helping him. "What does he have to do with this? I heard that Luffy and Ace got tangled up with him. How'd that happen?" Ace would never have put up with the guy, not willingly anyway.

Dadan gave him a look. "You don't know how the Gray Terminal fire happened, do you?"

Sabo shook his head. "Bits and pieces, I guess." He knew about it from memory and old reports, a bit more from Mox, but he didn't have the overall picture. He only knew at most that his brothers were somehow involved.

"Ah…well, it was the day we lost, or thought we lost you." Dadan gave up looking for a new drink. "I don't think Ace knew about this, but Luffy talked to me about this once. Don't know why he decided on me, yet he told me what had happened when you guys went down to the terminal. Basically, after your father took you away, Bluejam used you as leverage to threaten them into helping him. I think you know that much."

"I remember. Doesn't explain why he would do that though," Sabo replied. Bluejam was scum, true, but he didn't think he would have the guts to pull off what he did. Not to mention resources. The Bluejam Pirates were dead broke if memory served him right.

"The nobles ordered it, apparently. Heard it had something to do with a visiting noble or something. At least that's what Luffy said. Bluejam made Ace and Luffy carry a bunch of crates loaded with explosives to different areas of the terminal, although your brothers didn't know that. After dark, the bastard blew up all the crates and started the fire."

Realization dawned on Sabo.

"The Celestial Dragon."

"What?"

"There was a Celestial Dragon visiting the day I escaped. The nobles must have burned down the terminal so they wouldn't leave a bad impression."

"Right. I almost forgot those arrogant idiots. Although the official story was that the Bluejam Pirates were directly responsible for the fire to stop the World Nobles from visiting Goa." Dadan scoffed. "Like anyone with brains would buy such an obvious lie."

"Typical of them," Sabo agreed. "Framing others to protect themselves."

"I say those pirate fools deserved it. Bastard tried to kill Ace and Luffy that night, when he realized the nobles had tricked him. If he hadn't burned in the fire, I would've killed him myself."

"Heh. Ace and Luffy would never have been taken down by the likes of that guy." Although the blonde realized that at the time his brothers could have been in serious danger, they obviously survived, so he didn't worry too much. It wasn't like it was the first time anyway. "Guy's too stupid."

"They almost were, actually." Dadan recounted the night of the fire as best she could remember while she was drunk and hungover. "Lunatic apparently wanted your treasure, and since they were outnumbered, Ace was forced to tell them where it was and lead them to it."

"Ace would never," Sabo interrupted. He remembered clearly how long it had taken them to collect their 'pirate funds'. Their oldest brother would never have let anyone force him into giving it up, let alone Bluejam of all people with his previous record of kidnapping and torturing Luffy. Especially not when Ace could beat him to a pulp instead.

"The bastard had lost it. Some of his men ran because of the fire, but some stayed out of fear of his retaliation. You could see it in their eyes. Those fools took Luffy hostage," Dadan explained. "He was hurt. And you should know they were in the middle of the fire as well. There wasn't really much Ace could have done."

Sabo cursed. They were caught in the fire? "What happened after that?"

The bandit shrugged. "We went in and got them out. Wasn't easy, I'll have you know. I even brought out my axe."

"I'm sure Luffy and Ace weren't very cooperative," Sabo laughed. His brothers would never willingly run from a fight.

"Again, Luffy was hurt so it wasn't like he had a choice."

"But Ace did."

"I'm glad he stayed, actually," Dadan admitted. "I might not have made it back in one piece if it wasn't for him."

"You were hurt?" Sabo asked, alarmed.

"Nothing I couldn't handle, brat." She actually almost died but the blonde didn't need to know that. "I had a couple burns here and there. Ace got me out and back, even made a detour to raid a clinic."

Dadan blinked, a bit more sober than before.

"After everything settled down. I asked Ace why he didn't run away from Bluejam. You know how quick he was. Even with Luffy, he could've outrun them easily."

Sabo could imagine what Ace said, and Dadan quickly proved him right.

"He told me: I had to protect Luffy."

"It was actually a few days before we made it back to this rundown place. Luffy was a mess, I'll tell you. Magra said he'd been crying the whole time we weren't back."

Sabo raised an eyebrow. "Ace didn't complain?" He recalled how much Ace got annoyed with Luffy's crying.

"Not really. He did punch Luffy on the head though."

Sabo rolled his eyes. Figures, Ace was violent even when he was trying to be caring.

"That same night we found out about your supposed death. Dogra saw your ship burn and sink," her voice was detached.

Sabo clutched his hand. Dadan didn't give any details on what anyone's reaction was to that news, but he could imagine Luffy's wails and tears, and Ace's rage and hatred.

"They didn't ...do anything stupid?"

"Not for lack of trying," she replied. "Stupid older brat couldn't even have some sense knocked into that big head of his and had to be tied to a tree until he calmed down."

Sabo couldn't help snorting at the imagery despite their rather somber topic. He could just see it, a ten-year-old Ace tied to a tree, kicking and screaming yet unable to get free.

"The next day they received the letter you wrote to them."

"Right… I did send a letter, didn't I?" In hindsight, sending that letter was a really shitty move. He couldn't remember exactly what he'd written, but he had a general idea. His brothers probably felt abandoned with what he wrote in there.

"Don't think too much about it," A hand suddenly smacked down on the back of his head. Sabo looked over to Dadan who had a faraway look in her eyes. "I can guess what you're thinking now, brat. Ace and Luffy understood why you did what you did, so don't feel guilty about it. It's not your fault. It was never your fault." Her hand fell back to her side. "Anyways, brat. You had sake with you, didn't you?"

Gee, thanks, Dadan. And here I was thinking you were actually acting like a mom for once. Sabo looked at her exasperatedly. "You're going to continue drinking?"

"Gotta drink while I'm still young, right?" She retorted, eliciting an eye roll from the blonde. "You're not that young anymore, you old hag."

"Watch it, brat. I can still beat you up."

"As much as I'd like to see you try, I really would rather not." He got up and brought the crate of alcohol over from the corner where he'd left it yesterday. "Greetings from Makino-san, by the way."

He popped one open and handed it to the bandit, who had suddenly gone quiet.

"I heard you had a fight with Shitty Gramps… I mean, Garp."

"I see you heard about that," Dadan grumbled. "He deserved it."

Sabo glanced at her. He'd had his suspicions, but…

"Did you also fight with Makino-san?"

"We didn't fight…" The bandit leaned back against the wall. "It was a small… disagreement. He should have chosen Ace."

Sabo didn't need to ask who 'he' was.

"It's ironic, really. I've always dreamed about getting back at him for making my life hell. Making me take care of you brats, stealing my sake, popping up uninvited and threatening me and my subordinates." Dadan snorted. "But when I finally did it, he didn't even react. I wasn't in my right mind either, and I just wanted to keep punching him, and then Makino stopped me."

Dadan's eyes glazed over, recalling, as she told him in a clipped tone the details of what had occurred.

"How dare you come back and show your face here." Dadan growled, aiming her club at Garp's head and knocking him down.

"Garp-san!"

"Boss!"

"Vice Admiral Garp!" some marines yelled.

The bandit boss was breathing heavily, an unlit cigarette in her mouth, glaring at the marine on the ground, who simply sat up and held a hand to the spot where the club connected.

"Stay out of it, I know her," Garp ordered the confused marines that were accompanying him.

"You bastard," Dadan lunged at him, grabbing him by his collar. "You were there at the battlefield… You were there with them! What did you do to help?!"

Garp's face remained stoically blank as he stared at the bandit above him, betraying none of his emotions.

"Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?! Why?!" She yelled, shaking him wildly. A tear fell onto Garp's face, surprising him. "Why did you stand by and watch Ace die?!" Dadan glared at him, tears flowing without restraint.

She clenched her fist.

"You chose your job over your family!" She poured all her emotions into heavy blows that landed on the marine.

"Hey Garp, aren't you the hero of the navy?!" Anger.

"Go to hell!" Frustration.

"You old bastard!" Sadness.

"Easy, easy, boss! Stop it!" Subconsciously, she registered someone yelling for her to stop. "Boss!"

"Garp, say something!" She yelled as she continued landing blow after blow, not caring that Garp's face as well as her fist was becoming bloodier with each punch.

"Why didn't you help him? Why didn't you do something?"

"Get on your feet." She hauled him up. "You cold-blooded scum"

She geared up for an even harder blow.

The blow never landed.

"Stop it, Dadan!"

Makino grasped the hand that was holding onto Garp, halting Dadan's movement. The barmaid shook her head, on the verge of tears.

"Makino…" Garp murmured his first word since Dadan's rampage began. He stared at the young woman whom he knew must be feeling so utterly heartbroken. Ace and Luffy had been under her care for so long, they were her family as much as they were his.

Reluctantly, Dadan released her grip, staring at the other woman who had her hands spread out protectively in front of Garp.

"Can't you see that he's taking it harder than anybody else," Makino shouted. "Because he couldn't help them even though he was there."

Both Garp and Dadan averted their eyes.

"Th…that's not true," Dadan mumbled, her voice growing louder at the end. "That's not true."

She looked Makino in the eyes.

"Luffy's the one that's suffering the most."

Because he tried his hardest to save Ace, the only brother he had left.

Makino lost her momentum and allowed the tears to finally flow.

.

"That was the last time I saw her." Dadan finished. After that day, she didn't go anywhere near the village, and vice versa, no one from the village came here either. Including Makino.

The orange-haired woman didn't regret punching Garp. She would do it again in a heartbeat, but she was exhausted. Mentally and emotionally. Nothing she did would bring Ace back, and she didn't want to ease even a bit of Garp's guilt. If people called her spiteful for this, then so be it. She was a bandit, what did she care?

Sabo briefly considered whether to tell her about what he found at the house in the village, although he ultimately decided against it. While the old marine may be a jerk, he deserved to have his privacy. The blonde would keep the notes and posters a secret between them. After all, it was the only room with dust when the rest of the house was spotless, which meant Makino did not know about it either, since she was the one who did the cleaning. That being said, Sabo was sure the mayor knew. He wouldn't have brought him there otherwise.

"I'm sure Makino-san would like some company," Sabo said, as a roundabout way of saying that Makino wasn't angry anymore. "I mean, she did send me here with this…peace offering. Her words, not mine." He quickly added before Dadan could say anything. The blonde had thought the sake was a peace offering that Makino had prepared for him to give to Dadan, but it seemed that might not have been the case.

While Sabo and Dadan were talking, in the forest, Koala and Hack had run into a few of the bandits who were out hunting as well.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask you guys something…" Koala said, Hack walking next to her. "You didn't seem at all surprised when you saw Hack yesterday. Have you seen fishmen before?"

"Kind of," Dogra, who happened to be with this group, answered. "It was only in the newspapers though. What was that guy's name again..."

He turned to his fellow bandits. "Do you guys remember? You know, that shark guy Luffy took down that got him his first bounty."

"I think it was Arlong?" One of them volunteered. "His crew took out all the big pirates in East Blue."

"Ah yes, there was a report about that," Hack commented. "You're not scared?"

The bandits shared a look before bursting out in laughter.

"We keep up with little Luffy's adventures, you know."

"Good source of amusement, that brat."

"There was another fishman that Luffy was involved with recently. Right?"

"Yeah, he was a Warlord. In the war where Ace..." Someone near the speaker cuffed his head hard, hissing "We agreed not to talk about that!"

The bandits shared a look and continued as if nothing unusual happened.

Koala merely raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"We look forward to the news because of Luffy, you never know what kind of fun he will spread this time.

"You mean heart attacks. Don't tell me you forgot all the times the Boss accidentally ripped up the papers because she was so shocked?"

"Shhhh, we aren't supposed to mention that, remember?"

"Anyway…"

"When you've been around Luffy for some time, you just get used to weird stuff happening all the time."

"And weird people."

"Fishmen included."

"It was a shocker when we read that he'd gone and picked a fight with Fishmen…"

"You peed your pants."

"I didn't!"

"Oh sorry, I mean he almost peed his pants."

"Guys!"

"There's a lady present!"

At that, they all turned to look at Koala, who had her arms crossed bemusedly. "Well? Go on." It wasn't like she'd never heard guys talk before. The men in the army were way worse than these mountain bandits.

"Ahem, anyways, we're not really scared?" Dogra summarized. "Intimidated, yes. But not scared. Not really. I mean, you can't possibly be worse than Luffy or Ace. Or Sabo."

"The good thing about associating with Luffy is that it prepares your heart for anything."

"Maybe if you were bigger and meaner-looking -that's a big maybe- we might have been a bit surprised..." One of the bandits told Hack. "But you're actually…nice?"

Hack turned to Koala. "I am?"

"Nicer than Sabo," Koala patted him on his arm. "You at least didn't booby trap the canteen so you could eat all of Jenny's special meatballs while everyone else was stuck in sticky goo."

The bandits started laughing.

"That sounds just like something Sabo would do!"

The bandits shared a look. Dogra as the speaker of the group asked, "Hey, miss Koala..."

"Just Koala is fine." Koala cut in, giving him a small smile.

"Since the brat... Sabo isn't around. How about you tell us some… stories."

Koala gave him a conspiratorial look. "You want the juicy stuff, don't you?"

"YES!" was echoed by everyone, including Hack. Koala raised an eyebrow at him, Hack just shrugged. No one in his right mind said no to trading for more blackmail material against Sabo. It was never easy getting anything blackmail-worthy on him, even more so as he grew up. Even then, it wasn't guaranteed whatever material they'd gotten a hold of would work either, because Sabo always had even more blackmail on them. But Koala was different, she knew her stuff.

"Well, well...sure, but it would cost you," Koala grinned sneakily.

Dogra had a feeling that he was agreeing to a pact with the devil, but nonetheless, with glee filling his voice, he shouted his agreement with the other excited bandits.

Later, Sabo knew he and his friends were getting close to the capital when he picked up on the distinctly familiar scent of the Gray Terminal. We should get there real soon, he thought. The Gray Terminal had a unique scent; it wasn't disgusting like rot, but it wasn't pleasant either. It was the kind of complicated, overpowering scent that resulted from mixing many different smells, especially the perfumes that the people of High Town liked to use and then throw away with some still left in the bottles.

The scent was getting stronger. And he wasn't the only one smelling it by the way Koala and Hack kept scrunching up their noses. But neither of them commented out loud about it.

The three of them had left the bandits base around mid-morning, with promises to visit again. In the end, Dadan hadn't been very helpful information-wise. Not when she was seeing two of him every time she turned her head. The other bandits had a lot more to offer instead, and Sabo was officially up to date on the latest in Goa.

Dadan, still very much drunk, had shouted at him not to come back. Not that she was very convincing with a handkerchief in one hand to hide her sobbing and a bottle of sake in the other that, according to her shouts, was to celebrate getting her home back from snotty brats. Sabo had shouted back that he would definitely come back to visit before they left this island completely.

Behind Dadan, he saw Dogra, Magra and some others bent over some kind of book. The same one they had taken out when Koala was going on and on about his...shortcomings. That settled it. He would come back to visit, if only just to burn it.

The journey through the forest was not too complicated. Even after ten years the path to the junkyard was still mostly the same.

For old times' sake, he didn't take the forest path, but went through Ace's shortcut instead, leading Koala and Hack across crocodile backs, steep rocky slopes, and treetop paths.

"Isn't there a more normal path?" Koala yelled as she and Hack followed the blonde through the trees. Their leader was like some kind of monkey, jumping through intertwining branches without hesitation. They weren't that bad themselves, except they were obviously lagging behind.

"This IS normal!" Sabo yelled back.

"HOW?!"

"This is the fastest way to the Gray Terminal! Ace always used this path when he tried to get Luffy off his tail!"

"How old were you?" grumbled Koala under her breath, Sabo heard her nonetheless and cheerfully told her, "Luffy was seven". His mocking smile said, if a seven-year-old could do it, for you grown up soldiers it should be a piece of cake.

After that, Sabo didn't say anything more as they continued jumping through a few more trees. Then he suddenly disappeared, only for the other two to realize he had jumped down to the ground.

"Come on down!" He yelled up. They stopped in their stride and followed his lead, leaping down with ease. The scenery down below was quite different. Both his companions let out little gasps.

"Ahem, ladies and gentlemen," With his usual dramatic flair, Sabo cleared his throat and threw his hands out in an arc.

"Welcome to the Gray Terminal, my home of five years after I ran away."

Omake

Koala: You know, I've always been curious. Why is it that nobles in general are usually so stupid? I mean, come on, Fishmen have fish brains and carry diseases? What the hell?

Hack: Maybe they were too busy being stuck up to spare any brain cells.

Sabo: Oh no, they actually spend quite a lot of time learning things.

Koala: Doesn't make much sense though since they obviously don't actually know anything.

Sabo: Of course it does. Everything they learned was fabricated by the World Government.

Koala: How come you didn't believe what you read?

Sabo: While they do have brains like everyone else, I actually used mine, unlike those good for nothing nobles.

Hack: That's… so true I can't even argue.

A/n:

We are a bit curious, what kind of ReunionS do you wish to see in this story?

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R: Here we must insist on social distancing, leaving a review falls under the permitted category.

We are looking forward to hearing your thoughts, don't be shy ;)

S: Also, we recently finished plotting the rest of the story, so you can PROBABLY look forward to updates that don't span several months. :D

R: XD *sweat drop* emmm...no promises

S: XD

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Leave a review or Dadan and her club will pay you a visit. (Or she might cry because *insert whatever reason you want*)