"Are you sure you have everything prepared and don't need anything else?" Garp asked as he had his hands placed on your shoulders. You shook your head and smiled at him. "No. I got everything prepared. Makino is here too in case of anything." You reassured him.

He was still reluctant of leaving you alone. He truly considered you as his own granddaughter and he didn't want to cause anymore harm in his family. You've only been here for one night and he was already worrying.

He gave you a look and you sighed. "Garp-san, I assure you everything will be fine." He let go of your shoulders and smiled. "Okay. I trust you. But if anything, anything were to happen make sure you leave the village immediately. Go to the mountains and search Dadan's place. I'm sure she'll welcome you once she learns who you are."

Today was the day Garp will leave the island. It's true that it was just yesterday that you two arrived but according to him, it will become suspicious if he stayed on this island any longer.

Putting his hands on your bump, he smiled at how big you've grown. "Next time I'll see you I expect the little one to be born. What will you do? Will you leave the island as soon as you give birth or will you stay a little longer?" He asked you with a serious tone. You sighed in response. You weren't sure what was the right option. Either way, both of them seem to have the same amount of chances regarding the fact of being caught by the marines.

"I'm not sure yet..." You said after a few seconds of silence. "I just hope everything will come back to normal soon enough." You gave him a small smile. He looked at you for a while before he hesitantly started to speak again. "Here." He said as he gave you something.

Checking the object in your hand, you were surprised to see that he gave you an eternal pose. You stared at the eternal pose for a while. It had no name written on it so you were curious to know where this points to. You gave Garp a questioning look before asking him about the island.

"I wanted to give you this sooner but I was fearing that you'll make idiotic choices." You chuckled a little at his words. "I really hope that you'll get to go to this island at least once in your life." He said. Furrowing you brows you looked back at the eternal pose. "But where does it lead to?" You asked confused.

"It's an island not far away but also not too close to Marine Ford. It's an lawless island so no marine is allowed to capture pirates on that island." You raised your brows as you listened to Garp's explanation. "But it's also the place where Ace and Whitebeard have been buried. Since I was technically family, I was allowed to know the exact island Ace's grave was."

You gasped as you absorbed that information. "But... Didn't you say that Ace's body wasn't found?" You asked with a quiet tone. "They still gave him a grave, (Name). He deserves at least that." You closed your eyes as you felt your eyes starting to tear up. "Thank you, Garp-san. I would love to visit Ace after I have the little one. It will probably be quite a shocker for him to see me with a baby." You giggled as you wimped away a tear.

After the two of you said your farewells, Garp got on board and waved at you. By then, Makino also came outside and waved to Garp as well. You smiled as you watched the ship sail slowly in the horizon.

You held the eternal pose close to you. You missed him. You missed him so much that it hurt. That idiot promised he wouldn't die. He promised...

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Sabo leaned against the wooden wall. He sighed in frustration. No one has even heard of her. Maybe he was searching in the wrong place?

For months, he searched for (Name) and no luck finding any kind of information about her. His hopes were slowly decreasing. But he couldn't stop his search now! His brother wouldn't forgive him.

Sabo felt as if it was his responsibility now that Ace was gone. Someone had to protect them and that was him. He felt the guilt haunting him every night. He couldn't forgive himself for not being there all that time. He felt angry at himself for not trying to remember.

Whether or not the girl was pregnant, he knew that it was up to him to protect her from the Navy. She had ties with the Gol D. family now, and the Navy doesn't forgive or forget that. He noticed that she was still hunted down by them meaning that she was still not in their grasps. He needed to get there first before anyone else does.

He admits it. She was good at hiding. He was thankful that that's the case however he felt as if he was chasing his own tail at this point.

There were no news regarding the Straw Hats either, ever since Luffy rang the Ox Bell. He knew that everything will tone down for a while however he was in a situation in which this silence only made him more anxious. But he kept his cool. He needs to. For Luffy. For Ace.

"Sabo-kun?" Koala's voice disrupted his thoughts. Sabo looked in her direction and smiled at the girl, who was now walking towards him. "We'll be reaching the next island shortly." She informed him however she noticed the troubled look on his face.

"Sabo-kun? It's something wrong?" She asked in her sweet tone. Sabo sighed in response. "Nothing..." He lied. Koala furrowed her brows. He never lies to her. Why now? "You liar!" Sabo massaged his temples. His never ending thoughts never seem to leave him at peace for once.

"Yeah, sorry. I just, I don't know... I never get enough sleep these days." Koala already knew that. She noticed his dark circles long ago, however she didn't want to bring it up since she knew Sabo was going through a rough time. "Sabo-kun... Is this about Luffy and that girl, (Name)?" Koala asked.

"Koala, what if Luffy hates me? What if the moment he sees me he'll think of me as a traitor? (Name) is probably pregnant with my late brother's child. What if the marines get to her before I do? Koala, I can't live with the thought that my brother hates me." Koala was surprised to see Sabo starting to tear up. He never broke like this in front of her. His pride wouldn't allow it.

She pulled Sabo into a hug and he rested his head on her shoulder. They stood like that for a while, neither of them wanting to pull away.

"Sabo-kun..." She lifted Sabo's chin. "No one blames you for Ace-kun's death. From what you told me about Luffy, I don't believe he'd think of you as a traitor. He'll probably be happy to know that you're alive and well. The fact that you remembered Ace right after he died, you should consider it as your wake-up call. He wanted you to remember so that you could protect the people he couldn't anymore." Koala said to Sabo, who was now staring into her eyes.

"And (Name)... Well, we'll find her, one way or another. Maybe it's a good sign the fact that we can't." Koala assured him. Sabo finally gave her a smile and pulled her in another hug. Koala gasped at Sabo's sudden actions and blushed."Thank you." He whispered. Koala smiled and hugged him back.

"You're welcome."

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Bruuhh. That Sabo x Koala moment had me fangirling so hard. Sabo x Koala; Luffy x Nami and Shanks x Makino are my favorite ships from this anime. I know that One Piece ain't a romance but damn I ship them so hard. I know that some won't agree with me on Luffy x Nami and I completely respect that. But I just, idk, this ship won my heart.

Thank you also for the birthday wishes! I really appreciate it. <3

#CarrotForNakama