Ghost. {Sabo x Reader}

He's My Sunshine.

"Which one is your favourite flower, ma'am?"

"Ha, ma'am?" You scoff as your aged fingers brush a few strands of your greying hair behind your ear, your eyes staring down at the little blonde boy before you as a gentle smile graces your lips. "Please, call me [F/n]. Ma'am makes me feel old." 

"Oh? Yes, ma--uh, [F/n]!" The child politely chimes, his eyes watching as you carefully cut the stem of a blue rose, placing the flower into a neat bouquet. 

"That's more like it." You playfully muse, reaching out to pinch the boy's cheek before returning your gaze to the beautiful arrangement and running your fingers gently along the blue flower petals. "These will always be my favourite, they remind me of somebody very special."

The small boy stares at you attentively with a sweet smile decorating his features, his head soon tilting to the side curiously as a low hum rumbles in his chest. "Is it the guy who inspired you to work here?" 

Yes, you know this child quite well, he comes in often.

Well actually, you know him so well because he's the adopted son of one of your closest friends.

"Yes...did I ever mention that he has the same name as you?"

"Uh-huh~!"

It's never been a shock to you that the boy Ace ended up adopting looks so much like Sabo.

Naturally the child needed a new name to prevent his biological parents from making contact, apparently they were real nasty pieces of work - and to nobody's surprise - the name he picked was that of his late brother's. 

"Interestingly enough, you were named after that very man, Sabo." Your voice as soft as a cloud whilst your eyes take in the floral arrangements decorating the shop, your heart twinging as you recall the handsome blonde from your past caressing the flowers in complete awe whilst passing by this humble building so many years ago. "This place was owned by a lovely man before me...Rosinante. He sought me out, did you know that?"

Donquixote Rosinante was the only person in town who didn't judge you after Sabo passed on, apart from Perona and the brothers, of course.

You may have started to plant hundreds of flowers outside your old home after Sabo's death, mainly roses and hydrangeas but many others also, it made you feel close to him in a way. 

You'd work on your garden all day and research ways to keep it healthy at night.

Over time, you began to speak to the flowers as if they were Sabo since it was his passion for the beautiful things that inspired you to make the garden - in a way he bought life to them.

You may have convinced yourself that it means he could hear and see you through them also. 

Naturally people in town who saw this behaviour began to talk and label you as the "crazy flower lady" although Ace and Thatch would defend you - but this wasn't a problem. 

It was a strange pass-time to normal people and you looked crazy, yes. 

But it made you happy and didn't hurt anybody.

You would sometimes get children shout insults as they rode past on bikes, one boy started to stomp on your flowers at one point - you were on your way to throttle the little shit but your neighbour appeared into view - Dracule Mihawk.

With one hell of a glare and a short-worded warning, the kid ran away crying. 

It would seem it really wasn't just you who found the man terrifying.