#sabo who cries when lu curls into him again for the first time in a decade. sabo who sobs when he finshes the book he left behind

[introspectivememories]

sabo being luffy and ace's safe space.

sabo being the brother that luffy liked to curl into on cold night. obviously he liked it when both of them would cocoon him in their warmth but ace always took so much cajoling and begging. sabo on the other would just lift up his blanket and luffy could slip right in, tucked away with the steady drumbeat of sabo's heart in his ears.

sabo being the brother that ace could vent to. luffy was obviously too young but sabo was his twin. he could talk to sabo. he could strategize with sabo. he could scream and yell at sabo and know without a doubt in his heart that sabo would still love him. he could push and hit and punch and sabo would come back teeth bared and still loving.

sabo reading to them and teaching them how to read. sabo necer making luffy or ace feel stupid. sabo sitting with luffy in his lap sounding out the alphabet as luffy whines but dutifully repeats the sounds back to him. sabo fixing up the treehouse, pointed not looking a ace bc ace will immediately give up if sabo looks, as ace works his way through a book.

sabo teaching them standard school subjects bc one day we'll be off this godforsaken island and people are going to ask you things and if they think you're stupid, they will scam you. and no ace, you cannot just punch them all. sabo figuring out that ace is kind of a genius at math and that luffy might be a lost cause but he understands most of it.

sabo reading books to luffy when he's sick. sabo doing voices for all the characters and coming up with little props so luffy gets excited. and when ace inevitably gets sick too, sabo reading to him too. ace will never ask but sabo sees the way ace's eyes dart between the book and him and that's enough of an ask for him.

sabo the middleman. sabo the brother that encourages luffy's whimsy and sabo the brother that calms down ace's fire. sabo the one that holds them down. sabo the reassure-er. sabo the softy. sabo the beloved.

(sabo the noble's son. sabo the trapped bird. sabo the self-sacrificial. sabo the dead.)