My Brother's Keepsake (Sabo x Reader)

Chapter Six: Songs of Time

All of you slept at Headquarters that night since it was late. When morning came, you went to search for Sabo so that he would take you home on the winrot.

You found him on the boat, having an intense conversation with the boy that you had saved from drowning.

You searched for their voices, but something was off with the rhythm of his emotions. You didn't say anything and watched them for a while. Sabo said something to make him smile, then he ruffled his hair.

You left them be for a while, and found Nana asleep inside the winrot. She got tired easily these days, and slept a lot.

"Are you ready to go?" Sabo asked, arriving.

"Yeah." You said getting inside and holding Rouge in your arms as you sat.

"I'm thinking of volunteering as a cook at Mesland School. Is that alright?" You asked.

"You don't need my permission, Y/N." He told you. "Go for it, if it's what you want to do. You're pretty good, so I'm sure they'll be glad for the help."

"Thanks."

Sabo was silent as he drove, and his emotions were unclear.

"That boy. He lost his memories, didn't he?" You asked quietly.

Sabo was silent for a moment. "Yeah. How could you tell?"

"I have the ability to hear people's inner voices. I was born with it. It's more intense in water. On land, I can mostly block out the voices by constantly having a song running in my mind. I can still feel their emotions if I try though. His felt cloudy." You explained.

He turned to look at you. "That's a pretty amazing colour of observation." He said. "Is that why you're always humming? To drown out other people's thoughts from your head?"

"Colour of observation, that's what Ace called it too. And yes, I have a song that I'm constantly singing in my head. A song that Mama and Nana taught me as a child. It's called 'Sunshine'." You said.

"That can't be easy. You know, if you train your Observation Haki, you would be able to control it better."

"I don't mind it. It just takes a lot for me to be able to open up my mind like that." You told him. "But is that kid gonna be okay?"

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel. "It won't be easy, but he'll survive. I did." He said. "By the way, that kid doesn't remember his name, when I asked what he wanted to be called, he said he wanted the pretty mermaid who saved him to name him."

You smiled and it took a moment for his meaning to sink in. "Wait, are you saying that you also lost your memories?"

"Yeah. After the incident that happened to me, the only thing I had was my name." He said quietly. "I didn't get them back until I saw... until after Marineford."

You had wondered, but never asked him why he never contacted Ace. If this was it, how awful must it have been for him to remember his brother after he was dead? Tears started to well up in your eyes.

"Sabo..."

"We're here." He stopped the winrot, and got out.

"Sabo." You said trying to follow him.

"Don't cry for me. I'm fine now." He stopped, and wiped your tears with his hand. A sad smile came over his face. "I don't really want to talk about it."

You left him be, and woke Nana up. Still your heart cried for his pain.

The next day, Dinah introduced you to the people working at Mesland School, there were many children, each at a different age group. There were over a hundred of them there.