Billows of hot air poured out the oven soon followed by the sweet scent of vanilla. With a moderate amount of flapping you cleared a path to take out the fluffy sponge cake base.

"Oh (Y/n)! It's so nice to have you back, I missed your baking so much!"

"I missed you too Gemma" you smiled "But I can't guarantee my baking this time, since I am making this from my home oven. Being locked out of my own bakery is such a hassle"

'If I knew she was going to be this long then I wouldn't have told her about the secret key I left with the Jim' you groaned

"You know that Liv was only doing what she thought was best" She chuckled "and it's not like it stopped you completely"

"You do make a valid point" you nodded as you wrapped up the cake and placed it carefully into her basket alongside the fresh bread you'd made earlier. "Aaaand your good to go!"

Dusting off your hands after removing your apron, you made your way round to Gemma who was lifting her basket and fishing out some berri for your troubles.

"You truly are a blessing to us (Y/n)" she affirmed, clasping your hands as she stuffed the berri into your palms, "Don't you ever forget that"

"I bet you say that to everyone who gives you cake" you joked

"Come stop by for dinner when you have the chance, my husband is desperate to set you up with his cousin in the Revolutionary army" she prodded "But personally I'm rooting for those good looking merchants who are always stopping by"

'Of course' you thought as you respectfully declined the offer, although you did pick up on her distinct laughter.

"Well it can't be helped, you only have eyes for the bad boys" she shrugged

"WHA!?" your hands flew to your face to hide your embarrassment as you let out a pathetic whine. "Is that what people are saying about me now... I just want to help..."

With this new information, you sluggishly followed Gemma to the door only to jump out of your skin when she abruptly stopped and twirled round to face you "Oh and (Y/n)!" She beamed

"Yes?" You asked wearily

"That's a nice hoodie you got there, make sure to keep it safe" she winked at you before trotting merrily down the path.

Your (s/c) cheeks flushed burned even brighter than before.

'That woman is way too observant sometimes' you grumbled as you gripped onto the said hoodie.

Just the feeling of the soft fabric against your fingertips was enough to send you into a state of nostalgia.

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The concoction of feelings rapidly swirling around inside you was only overpowered by the reassuring sense of comfort. Careful not to crease the prompt letter tied carefully to the gift on your bed, you slowly placed it on the side and proceeded to lift your neatly folded gift. A soft chuckle left your lips encouraging a tear to slip past your defences as you surveyed the present. Before you were a large oversized hoodie in black and on its chest was Law's insignia in your (f/c). He wasn't letting the bracelet thing go. That and it was definitely your weakness.

Clearly, the bracelet didn't do the trick, so I decided to upscale it a little

Wear it with pride, after all, you'll have to wear it full time when I make you mine

P.S. I know it's your weakness so don't even think about avoiding it (Y/n)-ya

Your lover

Law

"Now he's just being cheeky" you chuckled as you wiped stray tears away

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A week has passed since Law left and since that point, everything has been rather peaceful. Sadly you were still locked out of your bakery (courtesy of Liv) but that didn't stop you from doing the odd job here and there. Still, Aliva was taking her time with this job.

Humming quietly to yourself, you poured yourself a drink and got ready to settle down. With the house now empty, and no work to do, including housework, you decided to indulge in some mindless writing. Snatching up your trusty journal you flicked through the wrinkled pages and experiences until you discovered where you needed to continue. And then you wrote...

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"Down the hill... past this tree root... and I'm back" You hummed to yourself in delight as you made your way to the treehouse.

You had just visited Dandan, who'd kindly helped you out with drying laundry. In return, you'd brought her and the rest of the bandits a new cake you'd baked as thanks.

"(Y/n)! You're such a lovely girl!" Dandan wept. "Why don't you stay with us for the night instead of with those annoying brats!?"

You could only laugh at the silliness of their actions. With ease you loaded the clean laundry into the pulley lift of the treehouse, being careful not to crush them. After all, if you were going to stay true to your promise you would have to be able to manage a household of your own efficiently and effectively. What better place to start than here?

'I must make the perfect home' you smiled.

'Ace? Luffy? What? What's going on?'

"That guy totally recognised you! SO TELL US WHAT'S GOING ON!" Ace slammed Sabo into the tree and Luffy was close behind.

"Guys?" you piped up "Is everything ok?"

"(Y/n)!"

You stood in silence for a moment, carefully assessing the situation as Ro told you to. Then take a deep breath you calmly walked over and placed a hand on Ace's shoulder.

"I don't know what's going on" You confirmed.

They all gave you a dumbfounded expression.

"But even so" you continued "is this any way to treat your brother? So why don't we sit down, have some cake and-"

"YOU BROUGHT CAKE!?" Luffy's eyes sparkled before he ran full speed towards the treehouse.

"Ah! Luffy! Wait! That's for everybody to share!" You shrieked before turning to Ace and Sabo "YOU TWO BETTER CATCH HIM BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY, BROTHER OR NOT"

'She contradicted herself...' Ace and Sabo thought

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"Phew! That was soo good!" Luffy laughed as he patted his stomach "Thanks for the food (Y/n)!"

"Thanks for the food" Ace followed.

"It's fine... but I need to work on the icing... It wasn't exactly melting in my mouth" you mumbled to yourself.

"Thank you for the cake (Y/n)... It was delicious" Sabo stared down at his crumb filled napkin.

"What are you hiding from us, Sabo?" Luffy stated blankly.

The air suddenly felt heavy as the previous issue decided to resurface in their minds. Looking around the room, it seemed like nobody knew how to continue this conversation, so instead, they sat in awkward silence.

'Luffy's too blunt for his own good' you sighed

"Why don't we start from the top?" you suggested. "Tell me what happened"

"Well we went to the richer area of Gao kingdom today and-" Ace began

"Sabo took us to a fancy ramen place where we were allowed to eat as much food as we wanted!!!" Luffy interrupted "It was sooo tasty (Y/n)! Next time we'll bring you a-!"

"Look that's not important right now Luffy" Ace snapped

'...But I want to eat ramen with you guys as well...'

"After we left the ramen place, we bumped into a rich-looking guy who recognised Sabo. It was obvious they had some history, but if that's true then you've been lying to us about your past! There's no way a guy like that would know a Gray Terminal boy like you!"

Ace was breathless. Just speaking about the whole thing again got him riled up again and honestly you couldn't blame him. A strong bond of trust was about to be broken, and neither of them had a good history with that.

"...Sabo?" you breathed "What's going on?"

Whether it was the sound of your voice or the way you said it, it was enough to make Sabo sink even further into his guilt and eventually crack under the pressure.

"I'm sorry" He uttered "I'm sorry I didn't tell you... The truth is..."

If Dandan was cursing under her breath at that moment, you would've been able to hear it with how tentatively you were all listening.

"That man we met in town was my Father" He explained "I'm the son of a noble"

.

.

.

"Oh is that all" Ace and Luffy lost interest and started picking their nose.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'is that all?'" Sabo screamed, "YOU'RE THE ONE'S WHO ASKED!!!"

"Well, we thought it would be more interesting than that" They sighed.

"Look, My parents never wanted me to live for myself, they just wanted me to become a puppet. Working every day, never stopping. It was hell living with them, so I ran away. I just wanted to be free"

To you, out of all three of the boys, Sabo was the most reasonable. And because of your similar background - being orphans not knowing their parents - you'd found a sense of comfort in the idea that you could depend on each other. But now... you were alone again...

'No... I'm not alone...not yet' you clenched your fists

You hugged him.

"(Y/n)! Come on! This is embarrassing! You better not be pitying me!" Sabo winged

"I like Sabo" you blurted out

"WHA!?" The boys screamed.

"I don't care if you're the son of a noble, the son of a pirate or an orphan! I like you because you're you, Sabo! I'm sorry I made you feel like you had to hide a part of yourself from us" you explained "Sabo is Sabo and nothing can change that, just like Ace is Ace and Luffy is Luffy!"

"Please don't feel like you can't trust me" you squeezed him tighter "You can trust us"

Sabo was rendered speechless.

"(Y/n)'s right!" Ace admitted "Learn to rely on us more"

"Yeah!" Luffy cheered before stretching his arms and dragging all three of you in for a big group hug.

"LUFFY STOP! THIS IS EMBARRASSING!!!" Ace and Sabo protested

Honestly, it was rather uncomfortable, being squashed together like that, but it was still one of the best feelings you'd ever feel. The reason for that is simple; It's because you shared a part in it and you didn't feel alone at all.

So If I knew that a few weeks later, Sabo would've been sent back home and I would've been taken away. I think I would've held on a bit tighter, and that hug would've lasted a lot longer...

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You squeaked in surprise and accidentally threw your journal across the other side of the room.

'Was someone supposed to be coming today?'

"Ah! Give me a second! I-I'm coming! I'm coming!" The words tumbled out of your mouth as you scrambled around, wiped your tears, snatched up your journal and answer the door.

"I'm sorry for the wai-! AGH!"

'I've been attacked' you gasped

"I'M BACK (Y/N)!" Liv announced. "I MISSED YOU!"

'correction I've been hugged painfully' you wheezed

"I... missed you... too" you exasperated "But... I can't... breathe...."

"Breathing is overrated!" She laughed, but loosened her grip on you, settling with just holding your hands.

"My body says otherwise!" You looked at her "but I still missed you too"

"Of course you did!" She smirked "It is ME we're talking about! You could only last so long without my presence!"

"Yes yes, I know! I feel honoured!" You giggled, giving her hands a quick reassuring squeeze.

'She did it again, but would it really be Liv if she wasn't in the spotlight' you smiled.

"I don't mean to interrupt this beautiful moment but..." a voice interrupted.

"Well, you are!" Liv snapped but still let go of you and ushered you back to the front door where you were first attackedhugged.

"(Y/n), In truth, I brought someone here to meet you..." she confessed.

There, on your doorstep, stood a tall masculine figure. His medium-length blonde hair swayed gently in the breeze, revealing what appeared to be a scar over his left eye. With a blue top hat in one hand and a bunch of wild blue forget me not in the other, he took a deep breath and opened his mouth.

"Hi (Y/n)...It's been a long time... It's me... Sabo"

"...Do you remember me?"

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😎