Chains (Sabo x Reader)

Chapter 2

A month later, two days before you would meet Sabo, you were at a dress boutique. The location for Sabo's next mission was at a ball hosted by a noble family, so it was logical to pick out a nice outfit for the event. In the piece of folded paper you had received from Dragon was an official invitation to the party. "Blue or green? Or this one?" Finally you settled on (favorite color) sleeveless dress. After paying for the beautiful dress, you continued to pick out shoes that would match your dress, along with other accessories such as a necklace and earrings. Well, the only good thing about being a noble before was that you would know what kind of apparel to wear for occasions like this. Even so, your dress would be considered as "plain" compared to the nobles' ridiculous, frilly outfits.

You walked out the shop, satisfied. "What's the occasion miss?" a curious voice asked. You turned around to see a young man, not much older than you, with freckles and raven black eyes, wearing an orange cowboy hat, black shorts and boots, and....... no shirt.... Okay.

"Oh, just going to a party. Why do you ask?" you answered.

"Nothing... just wondering if a pretty lady like you would like to have a date to go to that party with." Wow... this person is sure bold.

"Thanks for asking, but I plan to not have a partner. I'm just going only to meet up with someone." You turned around to leave. As you walked away, you heard a loud THUMP! and saw the bold stranger, face planted on the sidewalk, snoring away. You sweat-dropped.Seriously?? You looked around to see if there was anyone who knew him nearby. No one bothered to stop for the sleeping man, only to look at him strangely, shrug their shoulders, and walk away. You sighed. Not wanting to leave the vulnerable man lying there, you started dragging him towards the hotel you were staying at.

After an hour, you finally flung the sleeping man onto your bed. The trip back would have normally taken 30 minutes. Even though you were pretty strong, but the stranger weighed a ton! You hanged your new dress in the closet and plopped yourself onto the couch. Phew! That was some exercise. As you organized your things, the man began to stir.

"Where am I?" he asked, still a bit drowsy.

"You fell asleep in the middle of the street, so I dragged you to my room."

"Ah!" He quickly stood and bowed. "Thank you," he said politely. "I have narcolepsy, so this happens often."

"Okay..."

"Can I do anything for you? Since you had let me sleep in your room."

"Well... maybe you can take me on a date for the rest of the day?" you suggested daringly, remembering the offer from earlier.

"W-wait, you're serious?"

You nodded. Now that you were done shopping, why not?

He grinned. "Sure!" The man walked out the door. "Then I'll wait for you to get ready outside."

Hmm. You thought. He's pretty polite for a shirtless person. You quickly grabbed your purse. "It's okay! Since it's a pretty casual date, I don't really need to get ready."

"Okay, then! My name is Ace, by the way. Yoroshiku!"

"I'm (Name)!" you replied, "Yoroshiku!"

For the rest of the day, Ace guided you around town since he's been in this town longer. "There's a park! Ace, can we go?" You asked., remembering the fun times you had with Sabo when you were nine.

"Why not?" He offered his arm and you happily took it. As you walked around the park, you chatted, asking questions back and forth.

"So what are you exactly? Are you a traveler?"

"Me? I guess I'm traveler," you continued on to tell him about the small missions that you set up for yourself.

"Wow, that's amazing! You do that all by yourself?"

"Yeah..." you blushed, "How about you?"

"I'm a pirate!" he turned around, pointing to his back, "I'm part of the Whitebeard's crew, the man who'll become the Pirate King."

You mentally slapped yourself. How could not have noticed the mark of Whitebeard's Jolly Roger on Ace's back earlier? "Really? Hmmm...my turn to be surprised."

It was close to evening, so as you and Ace picked out a simple café, the city lit up with bright lights getting ready for the night. Ace treated you to dinner, which was probably a better decision because as you calmly ate your medium sized (favorite food), you watched ravenous man gobble plate after plate of food, like a bottomless pit. Never mind "like", he is a bottomless pit for food. Sweat-dropping at the ridiculous scene, you watched him. What made it even more absurd was when Ace had face planted himself into his food in the middle of eating.

"Ace?" you nudged him. The other diners looked at you weirdly. "Ace!?" This is mission impossible, since you had already had experience with the man's case of narcolepsy.

Thinking evilly, you whispered in into the sleeping man's ear, "Someone ate all your food..."

Ace's head shot up, "WHAT?" He looked around. "Oh, I fell asleep," he mumbled.

You shook your head, "I have only met you for one day and you fell asleep on me twice. One of them during a date."

"Sorry... heh."

Soon you were finished with dinner and paid for the bill. Ace escorted you back to your hotel. "Thank you for taking me out," you said as you went into your room.

"No problem! It was nice meeting you, (Name). I hope we can meet up again!"

"Say... do you have anywhere to stay?"

"Huh? Uh... no, not yet."

There was an extra bedroom in the place you had rented out. "Why not stay here? I have an extra place."

"Y-you sure... You know, since we just met..."

"I'm sure! It's kind of a waste since I'm the only one here."

"O-okay..."

The next day, you woke up to see the extra bed empty. The bed's sheet was nicely folded and a note laid on it, with Ace's number written on it.

Sorry for leaving without a good-bye, but I got to go. Hope we can keep in contact, (Name). –Ace

Smiling, you stretched from morning drowsiness and started getting ready for the party tonight.