A Dream of the Sea- Prlogue

"Makino! MAKINO!" Luffy came barreling into the tavern, panic written clearly on his young face.

Makino quickly came around the counter, drying her hands before she caught the young boy in her arms. "Luffy! What's wrong?"

"They took him away! They took Sabo away!" The boy wailed into her shirt as he clutched her tightly.

An image of the boy who had become a brother to Luffy flashed in Makino's mind. "Luffy, what do you mean? Who took Sabo away?"

"His parents! But he hates them! He only went with them because they threatened me an' Ace!" Anger tainted the panic in his voice. He leaned his head back and looked up at Makino. "What do I do?"

Makino looked down into the wide eyes filled with panic, anger, and confusion, her heart melting as she struggled to think of something to say to the boy. "Luffy…" She hugged the boy closer to her and gently stroked his hair. "Luffy… The three of you always seem to be talking about your dreams… What are they?"

Makino hoped she was saying the right things as Luffy fell silent for a moment. She continued as he thought. "Do you think that Sabo is going to give up on his dream just because he was taken away? Do you think that he would give up so easily?"

"No…" Makino could tell Luffy was thinking hard by how his head was heating up.

"Luffy, let me fix you something to eat to help you calm down." She carefully led the boy to the counter where the young boy sat quietly, so unlike his usual rambunctious self. She watched him as she swiftly prepared some food.

Once she placed the food in front of Luffy, she understood just how upset the boy truly was. Instead of inhaling the food like he usually did, he took sow bites, his eyes blank and gazing at something that could not be seen. She was becoming extremely worried, unable to think of anything else to say, when she noticed it.

Ever so slowly a grin was beginning to form at the corners of Luffy's mouth. Suddenly the grin exploded into a bright smile and the rest of the food disappeared in an instant. Luffy smiled brightly at Makino, no trace left of the panicked boy from before. "Thanks Makino! I think I know what to do now! Shihihihi!"

Then without another word, Luffy ran out of the tavern as quickly as he had entered it. Makino was left blinking after the boy, trying her hardest to figure out what he was going to do.

xXxXx

"HEY ACE! WAKE UP!" Luffy somehow managed to yell quietly enough that he only woke his older brother and not the entire forest.

Ace sat up quickly and whacked Luffy on the head, growling at being woke up. Before he really started yelling at Luffy for waking him up though, he noticed how his little brother was grinning. Like he hadn't grinned since Sabo was taken from them. Ace sighed and lowered his fist, tired and confused on how he should feel about Sabo cooperating with his father in order to protect the other two. "What is it Luffy?"

Luffy babbled rapidly at Ace, only a few words jumping out at the older boy.

Ace blinked at Luffy for a moment before it all clicked and he began to grin as well.

xXxXx

Sabo stared at the blank wall of his room silently, remembering the wall of a different room. A room he desperately wished to return to, because in that room who the only two people he really cared about—the only two people that really cared for HIM. He hoped with his whole being that they were alright, that they were uninjured.

He knew that he would be able to ever return to the mountain. He 'father' would simply come after him again. And again. And again. As long as Sabo stayed in the Kingdom of Goa, he would never be free.

And never had he wanted to leave this dreadful place more than he did now. It was threatening Ace and Sabo because he wasn't cooperating and now he was hearing that there were plans to BURN Gray Terminal?! Just how much lower could this place fall? Just how much more corrupt? Only one person that he had seen seemed to be in agreement with him. Seemed to understand what was WRONG.

Sabo couldn't stay here. Not in Highland, not in Gray Terminal, not even on Mt. Corvo. But he couldn't leave Ace behind and he didn't even want to THINK about leaving Luffy behind. He remembered how Luffy was when he first met him. How he had considered being alone more painful than being beat nearly to death. Sabo looked around the posh room that was his prison. He thought of his parents, who he felt so isolated from like they were the prison guards. Or maybe they were some of the chains he felt wrapping around him tightly, holding him down and choking him.

Sabo's spiraling, circling thoughts were interrupted by a tap on his window. He knew that it was well past midnight. Add in the fact that there was no one who would visit him via window except—

Sabo's mind ground to a complete thought as he rushed over to the window and threw it open to reveal his grinning brothers.

Joy at seeing them mixed with worry that they will be caught and hurt. He quickly yanked them into the room and shut the window. "What are the two of you doing here? How did you even find this place?"

The two black haired boys gave him identical looks, indicating that they thought he was being stupid. Together they responded to the second question first.

"We followed your scent."

Sabo slapped his palm to his face as he waited for the other two to tell him why they were there. He looked at them and noticed that the grins they had been wearing when they first arrived were back in full force.

"Shihihihi!" It almost surprised Sabo that Luffy remembered to keep quiet, but what he said next completely shocked him. "We're here to kidnap you!"

Sabo blinked at his brothers, completely silent. After several minutes of silence, Ace began to fidget, a bit nervous that what the pirate Bluejam had said might be true. That Sabo had been looking down on them the whole time. Then suddenly he and Luffy were both grabbed in a huge hug. When Sabo finally released them he wore a grin even bigger than the ones they had come in with and Ace felt foolish for ever doubting him.

Then Sabo's grin faded a bit. "Luffy, Ace…If we do this, then we can't stay on this island anymore. These people will just keep coming after me to bring me back and you would get hurt—or worse, killed!"

Ace slammed his fist onto the top of Sabo's head. "Idiot! We thought of that." He grinned at Sabo. "We're gonna leave tonight! So get whatever you think you will need, we already got everything from the treehouse. We just need to make one more stop before we hit the docks."

Luffy was still laughing quietly, the excitement bubbling out of him. "We even made sure to leave notes for Dadan and Makino!"

"What about Garp?" Sabo asked, knowing the answer he would receive to this question.

"Why would we write to Shitty Old Gramps? We told Makino to tell him we said that we were off to be pirates and that should be enough." Luffy's response had Sabo holding his stomach to keep from laughing loud enough to wake the household.

When he finally had his laughter under control he looked at his precious brothers, who had come up with perfect solution to the problem he had been working on ever since he set foot in this house again. He grinned. "Give me ten minutes. I know EXACTLY what I need to get." He quickly made his way to the door, but before he opened it he spun around to ask one more question. "Have you two actually acquired a boat yet?"

When they shook their heads no, the grin that spread across Sabo's face was positively feral, the kind of grin he wore when they were about to fight. "Perfect." He quickly disappeared through the door before Ace or Luffy could ask what he meant.

Sabo first went to the kitchen, where the staff kept several sturdy bags for groceries and other shopping that they did for his 'family'. He grabbed a few of them, filing two of them with food—he knew how much Ace and Luffy could eat—and taking the rest with him as he silently made his way through the house. He grabbed a few books from the library—navigation, maps, and a few books that he could read on the long days where nothing was happening—and placed them in a bag. He also grabbed some gems and stacks of money from where they were hidden. As he made his way back to his 'room', he noticed for sturdy metal pipes hidden in a corner. He had no idea why they were there or what they were for, but they were much better than the ones he and his brothers were currently using. When he picked them up, he realized they were pure steel and solid—poles, not pipes—perfect for their fighting style. He grabbed them and took them back to the room along with the rest of his loot.

When he entered the room, he tossed two of the poles to Ace and Luffy and set the two bags of food on the bed and finished filling the third bag with clothes and anything else from the room that he thought he would need or things that it would piss his 'father' off were gone. When he finished, he turned to see his brothers examining the poles and carefully swinging them around to get a sense of the balance.

He grinned again. "My guess is that our last stop is to get the treasure, right?" At his brothers' nods, he held up the remaining bags. "Then these should help."

Ace grinned back at him. "Awesome."

"Sabo! These poles are awesome!" Luffy was still keeping his voice down, Sabo would have to ask Ace what he said to the boy to keep him quiet, because there was no way this kid would normally be this quiet. Still he grinned at his little brother.

Ace fidgeted, clearly getting impatient. Ace looked out the window, examining the sky. "If we don't get going soon, the sun is gonna come up."

Sabo nodded in agreement and grabbed the bags he had packed and slinging them over his shoulder. He gestured Ace and Luffy through the window first and took one last look around the room he had hated his whole life. As his eyes landed on desk, he decided to do one last thing. Once he was finished he settled his top hat firmly on his head and disappeared through the window, never to return.

On the desk was a piece of paper with a single word. Goodbye.

xXxXx

Ace, Sabo, and Luffy had quickly gathered all the hidden treasure into the bags as well as the bags that Ace and Luffy had hidden before going to get Sabo. Now they stood at the docks, looking at all the boats and ships.

Ace and Luffy were looking around wondering which would be the best boat/ship for them to take when Sabo suddenly started off down one of the piers, seemingly with a destination in mind. The black haired boys quickly took off after him, not wanting to get lost. When they finally caught up with him he was standing in front of a beautiful boat—small enough for a three-man crew but big enough to give each of the some space. As Ace and Luffy looked at the boat in awe, Sabo quickly began to load all of their supplies onto it.

Ace finally snapped out of it and tossed the last bag to Sabo before tossing Luffy after it. Sabo laughed as he caught the yelling Luffy as Ace leaped after him. Ace looked over the deck of the boat and turned to Sabo. "So how did you know about this boat?"

The grin Sabo showed Ace and Luffy was feral and dangerous. "This boat belongs to my 'father' and 'mother'. I thought it was fitting."

In response, Luffy and Ace gave him answering grins, just as dangerous and feral.

Sabo hopped back onto the pier momentarily to untie the boat, and then they were off. Sabo told the other two what needed to be done to get the boat out where they wanted to be.

The open sea.

xXxXx

The next day, Sabo's 'family' was in an uproar. His 'father' sent soldiers hunting for him everywhere with no luck.

On Mt. Corvo, the bandits were bundles of mixed emotions. The letter that had been left for them had simply told them that the boys were leaving, but at the end Luffy had written a little note: I don't like bandits! But I like you guys! When Dadan had read that, she had burst into tears. Deep down, all of them realized that when Garp found out, they would all be in big trouble, but there was nothing that they could do.

Down in Fuusha Village, Makino was smiling as she wiped tears from her eyes. Her letter had been a simple explanation and a thank you for all that she had done for the three of them. She would miss the rambunctious boys but she knew that as long as they had each other they would be alright.

Because they were heading towards their dreams.

xXxXx

Author's Note: This AU was inspired by the Moby Dick's Tales by Freefan1412. This series of oneshots planted this idea in my mind. I WILL NOT COPY THEIR STORIES. THEY BELONG TO Freefan1412 NOT TO ME. I credit them with the giving me the idea, but what follows is completely mine. I love their stories, and think everyone should go read them—they are wonderful.

Alright. Now that that's done, EXPLANATION! This story is—obviously—an AU. I've read several where Sabo decides to leave, but talks Ace and Luffy into going with him but…I think that Luffy would somehow come up with this crazy idea. Who knows how his mind works. But I'm gonna run with this. I hope you enjoy it.

I am not a writer! I am a puppet controlled by fictional character!