Chapter Text
Ever since he regained his memories, it wasn’t uncommon to find himself in the past, stuck reliving memories. Since that day, he has dreamed about his first meeting with Ace 186 separate times and dreamt about his first time meeting Luffy half as much.
Still, he’s dreamed about the last time he saw Ace when he was taken away more than anything else. He’s had dreams about the in-betweens, when it was just Ace and him, then when there were three of them, Ace, Luffy and Sabo.
He’s dreamed about the jungle, running around, jumping over roots, climbing trees, even Dadan bandit hut, the room they’ve slept in. He’s dreamed about their kingdom, their pirate ship, their tree house. No one has to be in it. He would just wander around.
So it wasn’t a surprise to him to find himself in Baltigo. Well, he was surprised since he’d never gone past the explosion. But he can’t deny that he has some lingering attachment to the lost base, his second home. It isn’t empty. People are walking around, he can hear murmurs of voices, and he can hear people training from his open window. It’s nostalgic. He takes a second to take it in. They’ve been too busy to find a new base and truly call it home.
He wonders if he leaves his room, will the dream end? It’s happened before. He isn’t sure if he wants to take the risk or not.
He doesn’t get to make that choice when his door opens.
Koala walks in.
Is this a memory? He’s never had a dream like this before. Maybe it’s just an ordinary dream, just taking place in Baltigo. Still, he’s never been self-aware in those types of dreams, only the memories.
Koala is staring at him. He’s staring back. He’s sprawled out on his bed. It’s probably weird for a dream Koala to see him not get up to her intruding, to not complain. He wonders if this is his brain, unsure how to give Koala a reaction.
“Are you okay?”
He blinks. Unsure how to feel about that. Is this supposed to be based on Ace’s anniversary? He’s pretty sure it had a similar theme, but he’s pretty sure Dragon was there too. Or was it Hak? He wasn’t exactly sober by the end of that day.
“Sabo-kun?”
Right, dream Koala. He hums, trying to come up with a reply. He wonders how much he could mess with his own brain.
“Define okay.”
The dream Koala looks startled then tenses up with a look that means explain.
“Well, you know, am I physically okay? Yup, just peachy. Mentally? We both know that’s been a lost cause for ages now.”
He finished with a giggle. He expects dream-Koala to react like how Koala usually reacts to his self-deprecating jokes, with a sigh and a shake of her head. This Koala is shocked, frozen, mouth covered by her hands and pale.
What? He doesn’t know what this reaction is supposed to be. How is his brain coming up with this? What a shit script, can’t even keep people consistent.
“S-Sabo-kun… why? What happened?”
That forces Sabo to sit up looking around the room carefully, looking at Koala properly, and register just how clear the sounds around him are.
The room is lived in, he can see dust piling up in the corners, clothes piled up in his basket, a pile of papers that he knows are meant to be signed by him that if he focuses on he can see what exactly is written on it.
Koala is younger, her outfit the same that she used to wear maybe three years ago, visibly rough from use but clean. Hair shorter than he currently sees every day. Face softer, fuller, missing a scar on her brow, iconic panda eyes that Sabo shares so light in colour it wouldn’t even be considered a bruise.
The sounds. He can hear the wind, the clangs of weapons hitting each other, the sound of Hak… yelling instructions, teaching a class. The sounds of voices carry in from the door left open by Koala. They’re just mumbles, honestly, but so very present.
He turns his attention down, looking at his hands. Immediately, he notices the lack of gloves. The ever-visible scars are showing, yet he knows some are missing. He makes his hands into fists. Something feels wrong, though. He feels weaker? Colder… but he’s always felt cold after Ace’s death. Not even Ace’s fire warmed him up. He still wants to use Ace’s devil fruit, but he’s never been able to use it in his dreams. So he gives up on the notion. Something is off though, he just knows it.
He looks at Koala again who has calmed down, but her face is clear in its concern, she looks conflicted between running away or staying.
There are footsteps approaching the door. Koala and him turn to the door. Sabo freezes at the sight of Dragon.
Why is Dragon here?
“Are you two ready for your mission?”
Koala turns to Sabo, biting her lip, while Sabo stares in confusion. Usually, at this point he’s able to pinpoint what memory he’s relieving but he can’t put a finger on it. Dragon is looking at them with a raised brow.
Another thing, no one’s ever reacted to what Sabo says in his memories, he’s never been able to act outside of his past actions. But the things he sees are too clear to be a dream.
“Sabo?”
He snaps his head back to Dragon, he didn’t even realize he had looked away.
“Mission?”
“To Water Seven?”
Sabo blinked. Water Seven? Why Water Seven? He doesn’t remember a mission to Water Seven.
“Water Seven?”
Dragon looks at him, glancing at Koala who looks as confused as earlier—shaking her head.
“Water Seven… Oh! The mission I ditched! That was years ago. Why would I even…”
Sabo stops, and starts mumbling why he’d choose this day. Dragon and Koala look at each other, confused.
“Actually, wasn’t the point of this mission to see if any cypher pol was there… Oh, man, whoever replaced me should definitely get retrained. Wonder if they’re even still around…”
“Sabo.”
Sabo slams his mouth shut on instinct, turning his gaze to Dragon’s face.
“This… isn’t a dream, is it?”
“No, it isn’t. Though I wonder why you think it is.”
Sabo gets up, and walks over to his desk. He starts shuffling around the pile of papers on his desk, not caring if half of it ended up on the floor. Koala is too concerned to even bring herself to yell at Sabo and continues to stare. He’s writing on paper.
“Hmm, okay so three and a half years… Lu still hasn’t set sail, then… Wonder if he’s here too… I should probably pop in. Okay, done!”
He turns on his heel, handing Dragon the paper and walks to his closet. Taking out a bag, he starts shoving clothes into it.
Koala's eyes are on Dragon whose face is visibly shocked before he smiles.
“Where are you heading?”
Sabo turns to them with a grin putting on his top hat.
“To see my brothers.”
“WHAT?!”
Koala exclaims while Dragon grins back.
“Take all the time you need.”
Sabo laughs as he throws his bag over his shoulder. Heading to the door before pausing and glancing back to Dragon.
“I’ll tell Luffy you said hi!”
Dragon freezes, dropping Sabo's request for vacation time on the floor.
“Oh yeah, I’ll call you if I can get us an alliance with Whitebeard.”
“WHAT?!”
Sabo hears Koala yells again, while Dragon bursts out laughing causing Sabo to join as he runs down the halls.
If this is a dream, I hope it never ends. I’m coming, Ace.