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Izou's pov
Growing up, Izou hadn't believed he'd be able to find his soulmate, so he didn't give it much thought. His parents weren't soulmates. Finding your soulmate wasn't really all that common where he lived. Maybe other parts of Wano had an easier time with it, but even after he and Kiku joined Oden, people around them didn't talk about it.
He always wondered how often people found theirs in the rest of the world. Feeling your soulmate's pain doesn't give you a whole lot to go on if you wanted to look, so it would ultimately be up to fate. But aren't soulmates up to fate to begin with? So following that, shouldn't your soulmate always be someone you're sure to meet? Maybe many people do meet them and just don't realize, because neither of them got hurt at that time?
Then he ended up leaving Wano, entirely unintentionally of course, because Oden wanted to explore the world. Izou sometimes wonders if Oden also hoped to find his soulmate, considering he ended up doing so.
That's what made Izou really wish to find his own one day, if they exist. Oden and Toki were soulmates, like something straight out of a romance novel. They knew they were soulmates right away thanks to the circumstances of their meeting, and they instantly clicked with one another. Marriage and a family felt like forgone conclusions for them; it was enough to make anyone wistful for that sort of fairytale life.
Over thirty years have passed. Sometime in his twenties he'd started to hope, he could swear he felt pains unconnected to his own injuries from a typical life as a pirate in the new world. It was so hard to tell, due to those past injuries and him not being sure what the natural aches and pains from getting older are supposed to feel like.
Marco wasn't much help despite being the same age, he had the opposite issue. His devil fruit prevented those natural aches and any prolonged or chronic pain from injuries, so his soulmate’s frequent pain stood out loud and clear. Not a very useful comparison for Izou.
Until now, Izou hasn't been sure if he has a soulmate or not. The horrible burning feeling that came out of nowhere during dinner definitely changes things.
Everyone stops eating to frantically gather around him as he screams in pain and collapses off the bench. Fuck, can his soulmate even survive whatever did this?
“Izou, what's wrong?!” Marco checks for injuries, but obviously he finds nothing since this isn't Izou's pain. He figures that out quickly, picking Izou up to take him to the infirmary. It doesn't come up often, but they actually have a standard procedure for severe soulmate pain: sedating the person until the pain subsides enough for them to cope with it.
Izou only vaguely realizes what Marco is doing, it's so hard to think about anything but the pain right now. A small part of his brain that's still thinking logically wonders if he'll still be feeling any pain when he wakes up or if his soulmate will die from this. He prays to someone, anyone really, that this soulmate he's only just gotten confirmation of will survive for Izou to hopefully meet them one day.
That's the last thought he has before Marco gives him the sedative and he loses consciousness.
Upon waking, Izou can honestly say he's relieved to be in pain. It's definitely a strange feeling, but the pain means his soulmate is still alive. He only hopes that if they're still alive at this point, it means they're going to recover from whatever terrible injury they seem to have suffered.
Izou suspects some sort of burns based on the type of pain. Caught in a house fire perhaps? Maybe broken bones too, it's hard to tell. His face and side hurt the most, especially the area around his eye. Will they have visible scarring from this? It definitely seems likely given the severity. Would it be weird to look for facial scars in the future?
He tries to sit up, catching Marco's attention. “Careful now, even if you aren't actually injured yourself, the pain could make you collapse if it's bad enough,” he warns, gently placing a pillow behind Izou's back to help him sit, but clearly trying to keep him from standing.
“I can't stay in bed for however long it takes for my soulmate to heal though.” Izou protests. “I'll adjust, I just need to get used to it.”
“Stubborn,” Marco accuses, like the hypocrite he is. “If you're going to get up, at least let me help.”
Izou slowly starts to stand, leaning on Marco for support. He's a bit shaky, but it's not unbearable yet. Marco pulls away to see if Izou can bear his own weight. Izou tries to push through the pain, he can't let his work fall behind when he's not even injured.
His legs buckle and he starts to fall, but Marco catches him. He grits his teeth at the wave of pain. Did his soulmate wake up and start moving? Izou lets Marco help him lay back down for now, he can try again later.
“So, a soulmate, huh?” Marco comments. He knows Izou's wanted one, and he's probably the person on the ship most rooting for everyone to find theirs, the diehard romantic that he is.
“Apparently,” Izou sighs. “I'm glad to finally know for sure, and that they're still alive after whatever happened, but this isn't exactly what I expected.”
“It's hard knowing that someone you're bonded to in this way—someone fate thinks is perfect for you—is suffering so much,” Marco says. “It's nice to know for a fact they exist, but it hurts. Not just the actual pain, knowing that they're going through hardship is rough.”
“I feel bad for all the times I was a little more reckless than I should've been, all the nasty injuries I've had.” Izou is gonna be a lot more careful going forward. The life of a pirate is a dangerous one and he'll always do whatever he must to keep his crew safe, but he has his soulmate to think about now too.
“Another benefit to my fruit at least,” Marco smirks, the smug jerk. Izou should've known all those times he said devil fruit powers aren't worth being an anchor would come back to bite him.
“Yeah, yeah.” Izou turns over onto the side that's not hurting so much. “I'm gonna try and get some sleep, hopefully I can even with the pain.”
“I'll give you something to sleep if you need it, just call for me,” Marco says, sliding right back into serious doctor mode.
“Sure thing, night.”
Sabo's pov
Sabo would never ever admit to anyone that he wishes he had a soulmate, but he suspects some of his fellow revolutionaries know. As great as he is at undercover work, he's not the best at hiding his feelings from people he's close to, and his interest in other people talking about their soulmates is hard to hide.
Someone like him just doesn't deserve one though. How could fate be so cruel to make another suffer through what Sabo has endured; it's hard to believe whatever power is behind soulmates would match anyone with him.
Unless that's the point. Maybe his soulmate is a terrible person, perhaps even a noble. That would almost be fitting, given he apparently comes from disgusting noble blood. If he has one at all, it would be what he deserves, someone opposed to everything he stands for.
But he probably doesn't have one anyway.
He's never noticed any pain that might be from his soulmate. How could he even tell? Between the many dangerous missions he goes on and the chronic pain from his old injuries—particularly the explosion he was saved from as a child—he spends his life in constant pain.
So Sabo tries not to think about it, only letting himself pay a bit too much attention to the stories of others, never admitting his own selfish desires.
Sometimes he dreams though. Most of the time, sleep leads to nightmares, but occasionally he has this sweet dream. In that dream, he's safe and warm, cuddling with someone that makes him feel whole. He never remembers what they look like when he wakes up, but somehow in the dream he knows that they're his soulmate.
He hates that dream even more than the nightmares. Because when he wakes up, alone and in pain—only his own pain of course—it's nothing but a reminder of what he'll never have and doesn't deserve.
This mission wasn't supposed to be difficult, but of course there are always unexpected complications.
The ruler of an island deciding they want to emulate the celestial dragons and enslave their people? Not very unusual, unfortunately. Them hiring mercenaries to keep everyone in line? Such a pain.
Especially when the mercenaries are staying among the people, giving them an island full of hostages. Sabo hates these types of missions, more often than not they just can't save everyone.
Not everything is bad news though, some of the island's residents escaped to the next island over. Even more coincidentally, that island and this one have a pretty close relationship with one major difference.
That island is under Whitebeard's protection.
The Revolutionary Army typically stays out of pirate matters, but they're all aware of the good Whitebeard has done for a lot of people. It's not surprising the people here are aware of that too, or that those who escaped went through Whitebeard's own channels to ask for his help, offering to be part of his territory and pledge loyalty if his crew would save the rest of their people.
The captain himself hasn't come, not yet at least. Sabo doesn't doubt that if this commander deems it necessary, Whitebeard will sail directly here in an instant.
Speaking of the man, he's definitely proof that Whitebeard's commanders aren't all reputation and no substance. Izou figured out their presence on the island immediately—even recognizing Sabo as chief of staff—and offered an alliance. He said that working together will only make protecting the people here easier.
They couldn't really argue that point, so here they all are. Whitebeard Pirates and Revolutionaries, working together to liberate an island from their corrupt ruler.
He and Izou carefully sneak into the castle together. The most powerful of the mercenaries are there of course, the scumbag who hired them wanting the best close to protect him. Koala isn't far behind with a small team to back them up, but taking on the strongest is their responsibility.
Everyone else is in position, so as soon as they get confirmation of the other mercenaries being taken out, that'll be their cue to attack. Divide and conquer is a popular strategy for a reason.
Sabo is actually looking forward to fighting alongside Izou. The older man carries himself with a certain grace, it's hard not to admire him. And maybe Sabo is kind of attracted to him. Only a little bit. No big deal or anything.
Izou glances over and smirks, giving him a sort of once over. Sabo realizes he's blushing, fuck that's so embarrassing. He is not going to let this attraction make things weird. They're just fighting together to save these people and then going their separate ways after. Sabo will probably never see him again. Then again, maybe that's all the more reason to take the chance to sleep with him, his traitorous mind suggests.
Nope, not thinking about it.
Servants’ passages are easy to find when you've been in enough places like this, so sneaking around isn't too hard. Before they know it they're in position. King Scumbag is asleep in his bedroom and his pet mercenaries are right outside the door; the passage opens up nearby. One of his ancestors must've been a bit paranoid, usually there'd be a way into the actual room. Oh well.
Koala's group catches up quickly, just in time for an explosion to wake everyone. Izou frantically looks back at him and Sabo nods in confirmation. That wasn't the planned signal but it'll have to do. They burst out of the passageway.
Izou tries to shoot all four mercenaries in the head, but only one actually goes down. Two were quick enough to drop out of the way, but of course one had to be a logia. A mud logia? Slime logia? Something gross and gooey anyway.
Sabo rushes in to take that one on himself, his haki and his pipe should make it an easy enough fight for him. Most logia are way too reliant on their fruit.
“I'd say give up, but where's the fun in that?” Can this goo guy be any more cliche?
“I'd give you the chance to give up, but I'd rather just kill scum like you,” Sabo retorts, feeling vindictive. Only the lowest of the low would work for someone so vile. These assholes are going to die tonight, and he feels no sympathy for any of them.
Guards rush into the hall and it's chaos. Sabo hadn't thought Izou would be so good at fighting close quarters, where guns aren't particularly useful, but wow. Only half paying attention to his own opponent, he watches Izou easily dodge blows from two enemies while beating the shit out of them. He could almost swoon.
His hat nearly getting knocked off makes him pay more attention though, now fully focused on beating his own opponent into a pulp. Koala and the rest have taken out most of the guards already. This is going way too easy.
A shot rings out.
Sabo whips his head around, thinking it was Izou, wondering why he'd risk the friendly fire. Before he has time to register that it wasn't Izou who'd done the shooting, he doubles over in agony. Fuck, someone shot him? But no, he just saw Izou drop, it was him that was shot. Why does his abdomen hurt so fucking much then?
The mercenary he's fighting tries to take advantage, but Sabo forces himself to move through the pain and nearly caves the asshole's skull in.
His vision gets a bit fuzzy, but he knows he can't pass out here. He's been in worse pain, he can make it through this. Whatever this is. Everything is so quiet. Too quiet. It should be louder right now, shouldn't it?
He tries to take stock of what's happening around him. The guards and other mercenaries are down, the bedroom door is open with the king laying in the doorway, a gun in his hand; he must be the one that shot Sabo. Or shot Izou? Why does it hurt so much?
It looks like Koala killed the king, good riddance. She's next to Izou now, putting pressure on his wound. His wound? Izou's been shot. But Sabo was shot. Sabo finally looks down and sees no injury, no blood, nothing at all. Izou was shot, but Sabo is in pain. Soulmate. He tries to shake that thought off, but how can he? What other explanation is there?
Izou is Sabo's soulmate. And he's currently bleeding out on the floor.
Sabo rushes forward once that finally clicks in his brain ignoring the horrific pain he's in right now. He takes over putting pressure on the wound, and he can feel how much that hurts. Koala must go get a medic, cause one arrives shortly after. Everything feels hazy at that point. His vision starts to go black and the last thing he hears is Koala yelling his name.
Waking up feels strange. It hurts. For a moment he forgets he wasn't actually injured, but then it hits him. He has a soulmate. This pain isn't his, it's Izou's. He sits up, not like he has an injury to aggravate anyway. Before he can stand though, Koala comes into the room.
“What do you think you're doing?!” She scolds him, rushing over to push him back down onto the bed. “You're feeling the pain of being shot, don't even think about getting up yet!”
“What are you talking about?” He tries to play dumb. It's not fooling her for a second though, he can tell.
“How stupid do you think I am?” She pinches his cheeks hard. “I saw the way you reacted to Izou getting shot, I actually thought you'd been shot too at first. I guess you sorta were, just not literally.”
“I—”
“Don't even try to deny it!” Now she's squealing in excitement. “He's still out right now, but you should be alright to move once he's conscious and we can get some more painkillers into him. I stuck you in the room next door so it'll be easier for you to go talk to him!” She seems so happy. Happy for Sabo. Because he's found his soulmate.
“I don't need to talk to him.” Did he just say that part out loud? From the look on Koala's face, that would be a yes.
“What do you mean, of course you need to talk to him? He probably couldn't see what happened to you, so he won't know about you being soulmates yet.” She squints at him, suspicious. “Unless you're going to be a moron and not tell him. You're not going to be stupid about this, are you?”
“Uhhhhh,” Sabo isn't sure how he's supposed to respond to that one.
“What's wrong with you?!” Koala yells at him, “You've always wanted a soulmate, Sabo, we all know it! Now here he is! You can go get him! There's no reason to be so—”
“I don't deserve him!” Sabo shouts, making Koala stop and stare at him. “I don't—” he stutters, “—it would never work out for us anyway. He's a pirate and I'm the second in command of the Revolutionary Army, we'd never be able to see each other. It's not like he'd want to join us.” And it's not like Sabo would ever leave. He'd die for their cause before he ever quit.
“You're such an idiot!” There she goes pulling at his cheeks again.
“Koala, stop it!” He tries to push her off.
“Not until you stop being so dumb!” She does let go, but doesn't move away. “There's these things called transponder snails, dumbass. You can always call each other. Then you can arrange meetings for when you have the time. You're way overdue for vacation anyway, you know Dragon would give you time off, he'd even insist on it.”
Sabo knows she's right. Dragon always wants him to take time off, but he never does. Even their leader takes short vacations on occasion, though none of them are sure what he does during them.
“That's not the real problem anyway, don't think I missed what you said first,” she continues. “You do deserve a soulmate, Sabo. You deserve love. You deserve happiness. So why can't you let yourself take the chance you've been given?” Are those tears in her eyes?
“But I don't—”
“Why, Sabo? Because you might've been a noble once? You've already beaten yourself up for that more than enough. Shouldn't Izou get to decide if he wants to try this? Why should you be the only one making the decision for the both of you, especially when you know it's not even the choice you really want to make?”
“It doesn't matter, I'm not telling him,” Sabo insists. It'll be better this way. Izou never has to know, never has to find out he's stuck with a soulmate like Sabo. “He's not your soulmate, Koala. It's none of your business.”
“Excuse me? None of my business?” Oh now she's really mad. “So what, me being your best friend means nothing now? Fine then, be an idiot!” She storms out, slamming the door behind her.
Great. Way to go, Sabo.
Koala is definitely not letting this go. At this point, Sabo's pretty sure she's gone way past ‘passive aggressive’ and straight to just ‘aggressive’. As soon as Izou woke up, she's been hinting and tricking and badgering. Anything to try and get either Izou to figure it out or Sabo to outright admit it without just saying it herself.
She's out of time now, this is the last day they'll be here, they need to return to headquarters. Sabo has been on edge all day, so sure the deadline is gonna make her finally just blurt it right out to Izou.
He has to at least say goodbye though, even if he intends to never see the other man again; he wouldn't want to harm relations between the RA and the Whitebeard Pirates by being a rude jerk to someone that got shot while they were fighting together.
He thought he could sneak over to do it without anyone noticing, but of course Koala shows up right after him.
“Oh, hello,” Izou looks up from the book he's reading. Not much else to do when stuck in bed from a bullet wound after all.
“Hi,” Sabo starts, whatever else he was going to say dying in his throat now that he's once again face to face with the man he now knows is his soulmate. The silence is getting kind of awkward.
“Hey, Izou!” Koala cheerfully says from beside him. “Sorry about him, I swear we taught him manners at some point.” She elbows Sabo hard in the ribs.
“Ow!”
“Koala, what the fuck!”
Izou and Sabo both stop and stare at each other, momentary pain forgotten.
“Well, I think my work is finally done.” Koala practically skips out of the room, that bitch. Sabo knew she was up to something. Why didn't he expect violence? It is Koala after all.
“You—”
“Look, it doesn't matter,” Sabo interrupts whatever Izou was about to say. “Obviously nothing can ever come of this, so why talk about it?”
“And why can't anything come of it?” Izou asks. Is that hurt in his expression? “I'm sure it would take work, but why can't we try and see where this leads us?”
“It won't lead us anywhere!” Sabo yells. Izou doesn't know him, but once he does he'll never want to stay with him.
Izou tries to get up, making them both grimace in pain. “Sorry, I wasn't thinking. But whatever you're so afraid of, please give me a chance anyway!” He's practically begging. “Ten years ago, I finally knew for sure you existed, and since then I wanted nothing more than to meet you. I know what you do is dangerous, but a part of me always felt a bit relieved at the pain, because then I knew you were still alive and that I still had a chance to find you. Now that I finally have, I won't just give up on you!”
Sabo's face is wet. Is he crying? Why is he crying? “I shouldn't have a soulmate, you shouldn't be stuck with me.”
“I'm not stuck with you,” Izou says, “I'm blessed with you. Whatever has made you think otherwise, we can talk about when you're ready. We have time. Just please give us that chance.”
Sabo should say no. He should just walk out, it's not like Izou can follow him. He could leave the island right now and never look back. Somehow he knows it won't be that easy, that Izou won't just give up. So maybe he can try? He'll probably regret this, it'll hurt more when Izou realizes he's an awful soulmate once he knows him better. Or maybe he'll stay. Maybe they really are perfect for each other.
This isn't a fairytale and Sabo doesn't deserve a happy ending, but he pulls a chair next to Izou's bed and sits down. The least he can do is try to explain. And perhaps even give Izou a chance to convince him this could work.