A Dragon's Priorities (A SaboxKoala story)

Part 1: Circle of fire

(A/N: THIS CONTAINS MILD LANGUAGE. AS IS STATED IN THE DESCRIPTION, NONE OF THIS IS MINE, IT ALL BELONGS TO ODA-SENSEI) IN THIS STORY, WHICH TAKES PLACE AFTER MY IMPRESSION OF EGGHEAD'S ENDING, THE GAP BETWEEN DRESSROSA AND THE ENDING OF THE AFOREMENTIONED ARC IS 4 MONTHS.

(Sabo POV)

It's been about 4 months since the incident, and some of the Revolutionaries are pretty shaken by it. Koala especially. I still beat myself up about letting it happen, but nothing ever changes. Damn this Flame-Flame fruit(I watch One Piece in English dub most of the time, sorry), it caused all of this. What exactly happened? Well...

4 months earlier...

I was training with my pipe, trying to master my fruit. The fact that I could ignite both ends of my pipe with the fruit made training slightly easier since I have a point where I can work my way up from, but it still took me until recently just to harness the power AND contain it to my haki-infused weapon.
I was thinking about Dressrosa, and my lack of training with the fruit having just eaten it. The thought of my battle with the Marines, Diamante, Fujitora, and on top of it, getting a scolding from Koala just because I put my brother first. These thoughts caused my flame to go wild, and my attempts to contain it only condensed the fire in the direction I stared at. I eventually pushed the fire within itself, but it seriously drained my energy. God, how did Ace have such control over it? Come to think about it, how did Whitebeard, being, what, 72, utilize his own power in such a similar way?
All these thoughts flooded my mind, but my body eventually surrendered to the strain, and all the fire I was controlling exerted itself out of my grip and dispersed sharply in a circle. Cool, I thought, until I heard a shriek and gasp of pain from behind me. I spun round to find Koala, kneeling on the ground, clutching her side. All at once, I realized at once what happened. She must have been nearby, and my circle of fire would have burned her.
"Koala!" I yelled.
She didn't respond, simply removing her right hand from where the fire burned her to see the severity of the burn. I, too, caught a glance at it, but from looking at her hand, it was obvious enough. Aside from her blood-soaked hand, her pink top was burned where the fire landed, black around the edges. My attempt to get closer was met with a slap on my hand, an obvious signal to get away, and that I did, realizing the damage I had caused to the surrounding trees.

"Boy, Dragon's gonna be blazing more than a volcano after this." I muttered, regretting the volcano metaphor after remembering that it was a human volcano who killed my brother.