The first time he went, he wasn't sure what it was. It was cold outside, and he could never get used to the frigid temperatures after being raised in a summer climate for so long. He needed a hot drink if he was going to go through with this job without complaining Koala's ear off for however long it was going to last. Sabo figured he could probably waste a few minutes without her nagging at him, especially if he got something with cinnamon in it for her.

Speaking of cinnamon, a pumpkin spice latte sounded heavenly at this moment.

Sabo looked into the window and saw that the café was relatively quiet despite the being so late in the afternoon. Looking at his watch, Sabo did suppose that it was just about time for people to be getting off work, so it made sense that the café was relatively empty. Sabo scoffed. He honestly didn't know what he was so worried about. It wasn't like anyone from the military or a local gang would walk into a place like this. Even if they did, they certainly wouldn't expect Sabo, the commanding officer of the Revolutionaries to be sitting in one. Taking off his hat out of habit and courtesy, Sabo walked in.

"Welcome!"

"Hello!"

The two voiced startled Sabo for a second before he quickly regained his composure. He did suppose that he was the only customer in the café, so of course he would get some kind of special attention. Smiling at whom Sabo assumed was the barista, he made a small wave and walked over. Next to the barista was a young boy, probably fifteen years old, scribbling something on a piece of paper.

"How are you today?" the barista asked politely. Now that Sabo was closer up, he noticed that the barista was actually named Ace. The man wore a bright smile that matched his bright and unique silver eyes. He also had freckles that seemed to make his face look childish.

"Very well, aside from the cold that it," Sabo replied, as he observed the menu.

"Crap, I'm cold," the boy seated at the bar announced and Ace sighed.

"I told you Lu that you needed a coat."

"You didn't need one," the younger responded back.

"I'm never cold," Ace retorted but rummaged behind the bar to look for something to cover the boy up. Sabo eventually took pity on the young boy who began to shiver uncontrollably a minute after his announcement and took off his coat.

"Here, wear this for the time being. I have a few layers on, so I should be okay inside," Sabo offered with a smile.

Without hesitation, the boy took the jacket with a smile that took Sabo by surprise.

It was bright, warming, and absolutely genuine. It wasn't the genuine that made someone pity the other because they were never exposed to light, kindness, and happiness before; instead it was the smile came from someone that refused to let the dark, hatred, and disgust affect them. Sabo couldn't help but smile back as the boy wore the jacket with the smile still on his face.

"Thanks mister!" the boy said.

"Hey, I'm not that old yet. Call me Sabo."

"I'm Luffy!" and with that, he continued on drawing on the piece of paper in front of him.

"What about a drink on the house then Sabo?" the barista asked, his eyes showing an amused look in them.

"Are you sure?"

"Luffy is a younger brother that makes his older brother worry too much. I can't just let a person who helped him go without repaying him. Pumpkin latte right?"

Sabo was taken back at the question.

"Shishishi! Ace is really good at predicting people's orders," Luffy explained from his side. Sabo made a noise of understanding and watched at the barista made the order.

"Lots of people say I'm a good judge of character. You just seemed like a pumpkin latte kind of guy."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Sabo asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"That you are a decent guy, though you'll push back when life gives you a little pressure." Sabo smiled at the description. He supposed that wasn't half bad for a first impression, even if it was all just a façade.

Eventually, Sabo found himself sitting down at the bar watching the man make his drink. It was seconds before Ace finished that he remembered he really should get something for Koala as well.

Voicing his request, Ace merely gave him a thumbs up as a response as he put his drink into a cardboard sleeve. Placing the drink in front of him, Ace quickly went onto the next drink. At some point, he and Luffy began a conversation on whether or not dinosaurs with a beam power could beat robots that could only punch. Before long, Ace had joined in on the conversation siding with Sabo that a robot who could only punch could do more that a dinosaur who would be too scared of his own beam power. Sabo soon noticed that a half of hour had passed by, and he had not finished his drink, yet it was still hot every time he took a sip. During an episode of brotherly arguing ("Is too!" "Is not!") Sabo noticed that a pile of cups were stacked beside him.

"Oh, did you want another one? Sorry, I didn't notice you were already finished with that one," Ace apologized, and immediately Sabo flushed. How did he not notice that he already downed at least four of those lattes?

He was not going to sleep tonight.

"Actually, I think it's my time to leave. Thanks for the drinks. Here, I'll pay for the last three plus the cinnamon," Sabo said as he brought out his wallet.

"Nah, it's on the house. Hey Luffy, give Sabo back his coat. I texted Sanji to make sure to bring an extra coat when you guys head to the movies," Ace instructed. Sabo noted that Ace was a very good older brother, even though the two seem like that they shared a good number of fights, physical and verbal.

"Thanks Ace!" Luffy said as he shrugged off the coat and tossed it to Sabo.

Taking the two drinks Ace placed on the bar, Sabo waved them farewell. It's been a long time since his life wasn't being consumed by work. It was a nice little distraction, even if he was going to regret it for the next three days of no sleep.

"Come back again!" Luffy called out, and the revolutionary paused. It wasn't safe for him to be that distracted. Plus, those two, they were just civilians. He couldn't bring them into his world. Taking a sip of his drink again as a chilly wind blasted through him, Sabo smiled.

If he kept his world locked from them, he supposed he could just simply take a stroll into theirs then.

"I trusted you! How could you betray us like this?"

"That was your first mistake."

"To think I thought you were a decent guy."

"That was your second mistake."

"I thought we were friends."

"That was your fatal mistake."

Bang.

The next time he came in, it was summer. The job had taken longer than expected, but he was glad to finally be at a place he could call home. Dragon had decided to give a few days as a rest period after a six month job, so after using two of those days sleeping and catching up on what was happening in the world around him, he decided to walk to that café again. This time he took note that it was called "Windmill Café" and walked in.

He probably should have considered it a long shot that Ace and Luffy would be here. After all, the café must have other employees, and it's not like they were expected to work here at any time Sabo decided to drop in. Who knows, perhaps Ace goes to college and Luffy definitely goes to high school, and they were in class. However, luck was Sabo's side, and there with bright faces were the two people Sabo oddly missed.

"Sabo!" Luffy cheered as he got up from his seat and hugged him as soon as he walked in through the doors.

"Hey! Luffy! Don't just hug people out of the blue! Some people don't like it," Ace warned, but Sabo could see that Ace was just smiling knowingly. Sabo smiled back. Ace laughed and slapped Sabo on the back. Turns out Ace's laugh was contagious, and they all were in a fit. Soon enough, Luffy lead the two older men to the bar as he began a story about a liar who went to an island of gold and saved the people there with science. Or at least that's what Sabo thought was going on. Luffy unfortunately decided that replacing words with "mystery" or "idiots" was a good enough substitute. Sabo was going to ask Ace if he understood anything that was going on until he noticed that older brother was dead to the world on the bar.

"Ace fell asleep again!" Luffy sang and brought out a marker to draw on his brother's face.

"Uh Luffy?" Sabo began.

"Don't worry. It's washable!" the boy said before freezing and checking the fine print.

"No, no, well, I mean, good, but is he okay?"

"Yup!" Luffy smiled. "Ace is a narco-leopord, so this happens a lot."

"Do you mean narcolepsy?"

"I said that."

"Who said what?" Ace asked, opening bleary silver eyes. Sabo smirked at the sight. He had automatically assumed that all baristas were always hyped up on caffeine, but Ace had proved him different. In fact it seemed like it as the younger brother that was constantly on full throttle. However, peering into his cup, Sabo could see that he must normally only drink the non-caffeinated beverages judging from the juice in Luffy's cup. Whether that was for Luffy's sake or Ace's, Sabo wasn't sure.

"You're lucky," Luffy said out of the blue, bringing Sabo out of his observations.

"Hmm?" Sabo asked curiously.

"Ace doesn't normally fall asleep in front of people he doesn't completely trust, but I trust you too Sabo! You seem like a good person. Hey, why don't you join my crew?" Echoes from his previous job rang in Sabo's head. The blond quickly shook his head to rid himself from the memories and tried to stay focus on the present. Sabo was just about to ask Luffy more about this crew of his when a fist came out and landed squarely on Luffy's head. It was a nice solid punch that threw the kid off his chair.

"Idiot. Don't go asking people weird stuff like that. It's rude," Ace explained, seemingly wide-awake at this point.

"Ow! Why did you do that you bastard?" Luffy asked. Ace looked ready to climb over the bar to give his little brother a lesson, and Luffy looked ready to fight back. Sabo really didn't want his new favorite coffee shop be destroyed just after realizing its name, so he decided to intervene. Just about when the two were about to clash, Sabo came in the middle and pushed both of them aside.

"Alright, that's enough you two." He was just about to get into a little lecture on why grown adults and nearly grown teenagers should not be getting into a fight in a small coffee shop where there was a lot of dangerous equipment when his phone started ringing.

Damn. I completely forgot about meeting up with Koala later today. There was the distraction again. Honestly, if Sabo wanted to keep coming here, he had to come up with something that will keep his attention on task more. It would not do having the commander of the Revolutionary army being distracted like this.

Even if he did enjoy it.

"Hello?" he asked into the phone at a distance. Sure enough, Koala was on the other end nagging him that the movie that wasn't going to start for another twenty minutes was going to start and she was going to enjoy it and the popcorn all by herself. He sighed and said something about rushing over there as soon as possible. He looked over to Ace and Luffy and saw the older brother with a knowing smirk and Luffy holding in a chuckle. He should have left the two to fight each other.

"Yes, yes. I'll pay this time too, don't worry," Sabo promised and sighed. He loved Koala to death, but honestly, she was sometimes such a worrisome person.

"One for the road?" Ace offered. Luckily Sabo only had one latte, so he was perfectly fine getting a second one. He honestly did not know how, but Ace had managed to brew his lattes to perfection. Koala, someone who was not a huge fan of these kinds of drinks, even admitted that her cinnamon drink tasted delicious.

"Thanks," Sabo said, and with another wave, he left through the doors. Luffy told him to come back again, and Ace waved back. As Sabo took a sip of his drink, he noticed something drawn on the cardboard sleeve.

It was two poorly drawn stick figures, which somehow carried their own distinct style. Below one stick figure was the word "Ace" and the other with "Luffy". Above each stick figure was a phone number. Sabo paused in his steps.

He never had friends before, so his phone was mainly for work purposes only. He did suppose that Dragon did give him this phone to use however he wanted. Hell, he even used it on a personal basis when he was undercover. But to use it to communicate with Ace and Luffy? Would that be safe?

He decided to ask Koala about after the movies. If not, he could always get another phone. Some may say it was a bit too much, but he decided that for Ace and Luffy, his two friends, it was worth it.

"What would your family think of you now kid?"

"Probably the same thing you are."

"That you're a bastard that not even the devil would want to father nor the demons of Hell would want as a brother?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of 'Go to Hell', but that works too."

Hey Sabo! It's Luffy!

Hi! :D

Ace is being dumb and told me to go jump off a cliff. Haha! It'll show him when I do it and live!

WAIT RIGHT THERE I'LL COME AND SAVE YOU.

Ace I will kill you.

Holy- did he actually do it?

Where are you?

…

ACE!

"Are you texting people?" Koala asked. Sabo looked up from his screen to see his partner's face inches from his own.

"Ah! Don't do that Koala!"

"Who are you texting?"

"Friends?"

"You have friends? The leader of the Revolutionaries has friends? Dragon is going to love this!"

"H-Hey! Koala! Wait!

The fifth time he came over, he was being invited to hang out with the pair after Ace's shift was over. Luffy had wanted to go to the local renaissance faire being held across town, and while Ace enjoyed his brother's company to no end, there was only so much Luffy excitement he could endure before he reached his breaking point. That being said, even Sabo knew that Ace had the patience of the saint when it came with Luffy, so he knew he was only making excuses to force Sabo to come.

The two of them had been asking Sabo to hang out with them for quite some time. Unfortunately, Dragon had sent Sabo to a four-month job across the country, so he was unable to. Finally back from one of his messier jobs, the blond was more than ready to go see fire-eaters, jesters, and eating good food. Koala gave him one of those looks, and when he told her for the hundredth time that they were not his lovers, Koala just laughed.

"I'm the commanding officer of the Revolutionaries Koala. I don't have time for that kind of stuff."

"Just enjoy their company Sabo. No one said you have to be in love to actually feel it."

It was a long time since he actually went to one of these things. The first time was actually on a job where he had to investigate a marine who was also attending one. Since it was a job, he didn't really partake in a lot of the activities, so it was almost a jarring experience being pulled around the faire by Luffy to compete in knife throwing games and eating whatever was nearby. Luckily Sabo had an appetite to match Luffy's, so he wasn't constantly getting sick whenever he then pulled on for a ride. Ace merely watched from the back with a smile, tugging softly when he saw a show he wanted to go to.

Eventually, the three of them tired out and decided to go to the market to look around a bit. Ace kept a strict hold on his little brother as they walked around the glass shop. He left Luffy with Sabo to watch the glassmakers do their thing as Ace walked around the store some more. Sabo didn't peg Ace as the type who liked knick-knacks like these, but he supposed that Ace was full of surprises.

"Hey Sabo, how do they do that?" Luffy asked. For as long as he knew Luffy, the boy had gotten into the routine of asking Sabo rather than Ace about things he didn't know about. While Sabo wasn't the most knowledgeable around, he was observant and was able to pick up things pretty quickly. Taking a quick look at what was happening, Sabo simply began pointing, using the word "mystery" to replace some of the more complicated words, to explain how the glass makers were doing their job.

Sabo supposed that this was one of the joys of being a big brother. He could vaguely recall news that the famous Outlook family of adopting a young boy after their only son "disappeared" on evening. Once he finished explaining, Sabo unconsciously reached out to touch his left eye, scarred from that faithful evening. Sabo always wanted someone to care for, if only to show that he was a better person than his parents.

"Hey! Are you guys going to stand there all day?" Ace called out, already out of the store with a small bag in hand. Grabbing Luffy so that the younger wouldn't just break everything in the store, Sabo walked out of the store.

"Ace, what did you buy?" Luffy asked.

"Heh heh, you'll see," Ace smirked. Sabo knew from that look that the older brother had something planned in his head. He didn't worry too much though. Ace's plans were sometimes stupid, but he was also careful not to lead anyone into danger. The three of them wandered around the faire a little more before deciding to have some dinner and then go home. It was getting late, Ace had classes, and Luffy needed to go to school. Not to mention, Sabo needed to finish that paperwork.

"Ne, Sabo, what do you do?" Luffy asked as they walked to the tavern.

"Hmm?" Sabo asked.

"What do you do that makes you go everywhere and do dumb paperwork?" Luffy asked.

"Well, I just kind of go wherever my boss tell me to go and then do whatever he tells me to do I suppose," Sabo answered vaguely, hoping that they don't push.

"Really?" Luffy frowned, "that's no fun."

"Is that so?" Sabo asked.

"Going to have to agree with Lu on this one Sabo. That sounds like an office job to me," Ace said, looking at the blond with a new light in his eye.

"If I'm so boring then, what do you two want to be?" Sabo asked.

Luffy was the first to answer with a loud, "I'm going to be the person with the most freedom."

Ace merely responded, "Ditto," and left it at that.

Sabo was about to ask Luffy to explain what he meant by that, but they had finally reached the tavern, and Luffy was having a riot over a man that was eating fire. Ace chased after him before Sabo could question him. Sabo huffed but thought it was best if he didn't bring it up again. If they weren't going to push for answers from him, he would give them the same respect. After a few minutes of waiting, the three of them finally got a table at the tavern. Luffy was screaming about something on the menu, and Ace simply chuckled at his brother's antics. Sabo nagged at Ace for being such a pushover for his brother, which in turn caused Ace to call him a second Koala. It was just moments before a brawl when their food finally came out.

"Hey guys, want to know something cool?" Ace asked in the middle of their meal. Both Sabo and Lufy looked expectedly at the older man.

Bringing out his bag he got from the store, Ace pulled out three small cups. They looked like sake glasses, and very nice ones as well. From his backpack, Ace also pulled out a small sake bottle that he somehow managed to smuggle in.

"They say that when three people exchange a cup of sake, they become brothers."

"Eh? Aren't we already brothers?"

"No Luffy. I told you already. That shitty gramps just took me in when my mother died."

"So then you are my brother!"

"Are you even listening?"

"Are you sure?" Sabo asked suddenly, his face suddenly darkened with fear.

"What are you talking about Sabo?" Ace asked.

Visions of blood and cries of help flew by with the memories of his past jobs. Sabo was a Revolutionary. A stranger that decided to walk into the worlds of these civilians. He couldn't risk hurting them if they decided to affiliate with them. Not without them knowing the whole truth.

"I-I have something to tell you guys," Sabo said finally.

Ace looked at Sabo with suspicious eyes, a look he only gave to strangers who approached Luffy for no reason. He never thought he would ever be on the receiving end of that look.

"I'm a Revolutionary," Sabo said quietly.

Clank.

Sabo looked up, and saw that two of three glasses were already up in the air.

"Eh? Sabo, you're supposed to do it with us! Now we got to do it again," Luffy complained, not impressed with Sabo's lack of reaction.

"Come on already. I think that waitress has her eye on us," Ace urged. Sabo hesitated, unsure if the two brothers heard him.

"Didn't you guys hear? I'm a revolutionary! I killed people, and I betray them all the time!"

"We heard you. Now pick up the glass and drink with us!" Ace yelled, his short temper showing.

"DRINKING? AREN'T YOU ALL UNDERAGED?"

"Shit, Sabo! Hurry up!" In some kind of stupor, Sabo picked up the glass. Right before the waitress could come to their table, Ace and Luffy toasted their glasses together, and swallowed the drink. Ace simply dumped it into Sabo's mouth, forcing him to swallow, grabbed the cups and Sabo, and ran out of there.

"Wait, we didn't pay for our meal!" Sabo said, finally coming back to reality.

"Who cares? I'll have Marco send them a check or something."

"Shishi, I'll get Nami to pay you back Ace," Luffy laughed as the three of them ran as fast as possible from the faire.

Wait? Marco as in Marco the Phoenix and Cat Burglar Nami? From the infamous Whitebeard Pirate Gang and Strawhat Pirate Gang?

Suddenly, Sabo didn't feel so bad about keeping secrets.

After a few minutes of running, the three of them stopped at an alleyway to ensure that they weren't being followed by anyone. Ace sighed and said something about this feeling nostalgic. Luffy laughed but didn't offer any more context. Sabo had enough.

He pulled out his staff from his coat and pointed to the two brothers.

"Explain yourselves," he ordered dangerously.

"Hey, is that how you should treat your brothers?" Ace asked, annoyed that Sabo was still going on about his Revolutionary spiel.

"Sabo, is that your weapon? It's so cool! I bet it's not as strong as my punch though. It's almost as strong a pistol you know," Luffy bragged, as if he wasn't being threatened.

When the two of them saw that Sabo was not going to be backing down, Ace took the initiative. Pointing to himself he said, "Portgas D. Ace or otherwise known as 'Fire Fist' Ace. I am the second commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."

Luffy followed his brother's lead and introduced, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Sometimes the government calls me Strawhat Luffy, and I'm the captain of the Strawhat Pirates!"

Sabo lowered his staff but kept careful eyes on the pirates. "Sabo. Commander of Staff of the Revolutionary army." Ace whistled in appreciation.

"Well, now that that's done, Luffy and I need to be get going. It was fun Sabo. Are you going to stop by again tomorrow afternoon?"

"Ace has this new brew he wants everyone to try! He thinks it's going to make Windmill Café a huge hit! Makino is going to be so happy."

"Wait!" Sabo yelled, his shoulders shaking in anger. How could these two take such information so lightly. They were wanted criminals and he was the enemy of the government. What about this was so easy to accept?

"What is it now?" Ace asked.

"Why are you guys just taking this like it's nothing! I could have killed you!"

Ace and Luffy looked at each other as if the other had an answer to the question they were both thinking of.

"No you wouldn't," Luffy finally answered. Sabo looked up in surprise.

"How-"

"You fight because you want the government to stop controlling everyone? It's corrupt and destructive, and you want to fix that, right?" Ace asked.

It hurts so much. Why was he burning? Was that someone else's scream? Or was that his own scream. He couldn't tell. Ithurtithurtithurt. STOP IT!

"Yeah, I suppose."

"We just want to be free. You want to save everyone else; we want to save ourselves. In that case, we don't need to fight. Besides, you like us, we like you. You're our brother now Sabo, and that's all that really counts," Ace explained.

"Why choose me to be your brother?" Sabo knew that both the Whitebeard pirates and Strawhat pirates were close to one another. Surely there had to be someone better than him to fill the spot of their third brother.

"Because we want to protect you," Luffy answered. "And you'll protect us if it comes to it, right?"

At the question, Sabo paused. He remembered back to the glass shop where he wanted nothing more but to protect Luffy from anything. He remembered when Luffy first shown him that smile that darkness could not touch. He remembered when Ace predicted the drink he grew to love as well as the personality he know wore as naturally as his killer persona. He remembered when Ace showed one of his few weaknesses in front of him. How could he answer with anything but, "yes."

Tears Sabo began flowing out. Some part of him that was so empty that he didn't realized was being filled. He had a family again. He had someone to protect. He finally had someone to fight for.

Arms surrounded him into a tight embrace, and Sabo's legs failed. He heard the words "stupid brother" being whispered into his ear. They stayed like that for an eternity and a half. He must have fallen asleep from the emotional overload because he felt someone picking him up and placing him onto a bed seconds later. To his left, he could feel Luffy cuddling with him, and Ace's arm thrown across him from his right.

Sabo has never felt more protected in his life.

"It's great having brothers," he heard Luffy mutter in his sleep. Sabo smiled.

It sure was.

"The documents, hand them over."

"S-S-Sabo of the Revolutionaries!" A pause. "N-n-no! I, Coby, am a proud marine! I'm not going to let someone like you get our precious documents!"

"Then die."

"Hey Sabo! I heard from Dad that you needed these! Now you don't have to kill Coby, right?"

"Dragon told you?"

"Luffy? You know the commander of the Revolutionaries?"

"Yeah! He's my brother!"

"Oi Lu! Why did you come all the way here? Did Zoro get lost again? Oh, hey Sabo!"

"Could you guys not bother me while I'm at work?"

"F-F-F-Fire Fist A-A-Ace?"

"Coby! Here's my other brother!"

There was a second pause, before a loud thump could be heard.

"I think you broke him Luffy," Sabo sighed and picked up the documents from his little brother. At least Dragon would be happy to hear no casualties happened on this mission.

"Come on Lu, Sabo needs to get his work done so he can join us for bowling later. See ya Sabo!"

"Bye Sabo!"

Sabo waved back, and this time, added, "See you guys later!"

Sabo was no longer a stranger to their worlds, just like how they were no longer strangers to his. It was simply the new world order for them, and Sabo wouldn't have it any other way.

A/N: A fluffy little one-shot thing with Ace, Sabo, and Luffy. Not really sure how this happened like this. I just wanted a cute little coffee shop AU and then it became this huge thing. o.O

Anywho, this was my first time writing Sabo, so I hope it's okay. They don't call him the Mad Hatter for nothing I suppose. Also, pumpkin spice lattes are bomb.

Also, you may have noticed that there are some holes in Sabo's story. I decided to keep it open ended for the reader's imagination. Maybe I'll come back to this little thing and fill some in, but for now, can you guess what happened to Sabo in the past?