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"Ahh!" Clara slammed the empty mug down at the table, grinning to Tulko and Reni who had done the same. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"That was well deserved." Reni burped leaning back on the bench. But he didn't sit long before he raised his mug up and called: "Oi. Serena! We need a refill over here." He waved the mug in the air. Clara chuckled. The three friends were sitting at the usual table. They were all exhausted from today's activities. The training sessions had been harder than usual, and with the following march in honor of the admiral they were all looking forward to the free time afterwards.

"Remember the drinks are on you tonight, Reni. You were the last to get here."

"Why are we still playing that game? Aren't we too old to play the-last-one-is-a-toad?" Reni complained but Tulko and Clara just looked at each other smirking.

"Nope. Not as long as we can get free drinks." Tulko said.

"I love free drinks." Clara declared just as Serena walked over with three mugs full of beer.

"You guys, be nice to Reni." She put the mugs down, and the three each took one. Reni smiled up to her.

"He can't help that he is a slow runner." She added and they all laughed as Reni protested.

"I'm not always last…" he pouted. "Last week Clara was buying." Clara smiled back to him.

"Well if you started running the same time we did, instead of arguing with our backs, you might win more often." Reni's pout continued as he didn't answer. Tulko was occupied by Serena who was whispering something in his ear. Clara caught a slight blush out of the corner of her eye. She hid a smirk behind her hand, as she tried to casually lean on the table, resting her chin in her hands. They were kinda cute, she thought to herself. Then she heard a grunt next to her. Reni had also noticed the couple.

"This is so not fair." He mumbled to Clara. "I'm the only single one left."

She smiled at the poor guy. She knew the feeling of being a third wheel, from last year when the guys had been dating and she hadn't. She nuzzled his hair.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It won't be long before you find yourself a cute butt to look at again." He frowned.

"Come on. He has got to have more than a good butt, great abs is also important." Clara tried to match his serious tone.

"Oh, yes. Definitely. Very important." She failed to keep a straight face as Tulko turned towards his friends again, when Serena had to leave to help other customers at the bar.

"Who got great abs?"

"WE do!" Clara exclaimed more excitingly than normally and she wrapped an arm around Reni's neck. The effect of drinking the beer so quickly had started to show, but luckily it took more than one beer to get her really drunk. Reni laughed and pointed at Tulko.

"Clare, can Tulko join the club as well? He has better abs than both of us."

"Of course, he… Aw, did you just call me ClarE? You guys haven't called me that since we were children." Reni shrugged, smiled and then teasingly put a finger on Clara's nose. A habit she thought he had finally grown out off as they became adult.

"I haven't called you that since you could win a arm-wrestling against me."

"Of course I don't win at brute force. You are so much bigger than me." She circled her fingers to indicate the difference in their biceps size.

"But hey… As long as I can beat you in in swords and martial arts I guess it should be fair that you can beat me in something…" she teased him.

"Well that is almost an understatement." Tulko joined in. He usually didn't speak much when Clara and Reni got started with one of their silly arguments, but sometimes he joined in on the fun as well.

"Reni might be a good cannoneer, but he hasn't been able to beat any of us since… Has he ever been able to beat us?"

"Hey don't act so tough Tulko. You can't win over Clara in hand-to-hand combat either."

"Or swords." Clara added.

"Right, neither in swords." Tulko nodded, simply ignoring that Reni had tried to ally with him against Clara.

With an distraught moan Reni slid of the bench, hands up in defeat. He walked towards the toilet and as Tulko watched Reni, Clara noticed how his gaze inadvertently fell upon the barmaids, chatting at the bar, Serena being one of them. The girls were laughing at one girl's story, and as she gestured, what Clara guessed was a very brazen comment from a man. The girl put her fists to her hips thrusting her hips back and forth, which left nothing to the imagination of what the man had suggested.

Clara laughed out loud, louder than she intended and to hide it she grabbed her mug and started to chug down some beer. Tulko turned to face her again. He had a twinkle in his eye, he could also see why Clara had laughed so much, he was just better at controlling himself and keeping and, almost, straight face.

"Some men just don't know how to talk to a woman." Clara stated as the mug went away from her mouth again. "Why is that?" she looked questioning at Tulko, who then felt his cheeks redden. He had always been shy talking openly about such topics, something he hadn't grown out of but also something Clara regularly taunted him with.

"I… Eh… Well… What should they do then?" The best defense was an offense. Having her do the talking, at least had him temporarily out of the fire. She smirked to him, knowing full well what tactic he tried to use.

"Well… It's not bad that you are direct, just don't start with it." She leaned back in her seat. "It's about having fun, a good time, if you can't sell that idea, then get lost."

"Is that what Kevin did for you?" Reni had returned and he had apparently overheard some of the conversation. He took a drag of his mug before sitting down again.

"I gotta be honest Clare; I don't really get what see in that guy." Clara shrugged at this remark; she knew that Kevin was a bit awkward with people he didn't know. Saying things he shouldn't, often stomping on people's feelings and being awfully bad at apologizing afterwards.

"Well… He is just so sweet when we are alone…" Reni's raised an eyebrow the obvious question left unspoken but Clara answered it anyways.

"No. We haven't." Now both Reni and Tulko stared at her. "We are taking it slow?" The uncertainty in her voice was clear. The two faces just staring at her made her twist in her seat.

"He wants to take it slow. Something about being sure? I dunno…"

"Seems weird though…" Reni smiled apologetic to Clara. "I mean… There are a lot of our fellow marines who would want to date you, and you are choosing the one who is not sure if he wants to date you?"

"No… It's not like that… Or… Eh…?" Clara sighed yet again, now resting her chin in her hands. She wasn't sure how to explain it. It wasn't that there was no attraction at all between her and Kevin, like they were both good looking, but it was more a comfort relationship than anything else. Dating him also meant that she didn't have to deal with approaches from the other privates. She dated Kevin whose rank was high enough for her to be left alone. So it really didn't bother her that he didn't seem that interested in getting the clothes of her. She had a feeling that if she really wanted him to be naked with her, it would be an easy task doing so. For now though she was content with training and hanging out with her friends most of the time. But how could she tell her friends that?

"It's fine." She smiled her most charming smile. "We're both busy, this suits us." Reni and Tulko looked at each other. They had known Clara since childhood, and they could always tell if she was lying or trying to hide something from them. She was good at many things, but lying wasn't one of them. They often let her lies slip by depending on the situation. If she felt that they didn't need to know the real reason, they wouldn't pressure her. Eventually she would tell them.

Both men had the same thought and Reni gave a small nod to Tulko. Yeah, no need to ask more about the subject right now. Clara on the other hand knew them as well, and could tell immediately that they were being nice to her. She raised her mug in salute.

"Cheers!" she smiled to them.

"Cheers!" they said back.

"To great friends and nakama!" Clara added as all three clinked their mugs against the other, and then drinking. They went quiet for a moment, each leaning back in their seats relaxing as much as possible. Finally Reni stood up.

"Alright guys. Gotta call it a night. I got guard duty tomorrow."

"Aw, already? It's so early." Clara pouted.

"Yeah, well you know, guard duty starts at sunrise, so I need some sleep now." She continued to have a mopey expression as they all three got up. They might as well get home and get some rest.

"You could join me at guard duty? Then we could get on the same shifts."

"Ugh, no thanks. Guard duty sounds so… stationary…"

"Stationary?"

"Yeah… I want to experience the world, and I won't be able to do that by guarding this island. Nothing ever happens here." Reni gave her a hug.

"Experience the world, huh?"

"Where did this come from?" Tulko asked furrowing his brow. "I thought you were satisfied with this island and training as a way to get stronger?"

"I dunno… I just started thinking... you know… after seeing the admiral, I'm not sure that this is what I want."

"No?" Reni looked questioning at her. "I thought he was awesome."

"Hmm…" Clara frowned but didn't want to elaborate. Something just seemed off with that admiral, or maybe it was her and view on being a marine that had changed. It just had never felt like she fitted in. Instead she changed the subject.

"Well, "mister" guard duty sir. Since when did you sign up for that?"

"Since I realized that I would get an extra day off each week?" he chuckled back. They had reached the door by now, and Reni was walking slowly to say the last good night before he left.

Both Clara and Tulko laughed with Reni. They knew that he was the laziest private in their year.

"Besides I get to practice a lot more shooting the cannons as a guard, so I thought 'why not?'"

"Oh, well when you put it like that…" Tulko said, Clara nodding. "Then you better make sure you get enough rest. The sergeants are tough on the guards."

"Ugh, don't remind me… Anyways! I'll see you at the joined training tomor… no the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes." Clara said happily, "Finally got a day off. It's gonna be great."

"Then enjoy it a little extra for me, will ya?"

Reni waved them goodnight with a smile and walked toward his bed.

Tulko put an arm around Clara and kissed her on her head.

"You know…" Tulko began as they watched Reni walk home "You don't have to hurry figuring things out. Take your time." He gave her a squeeze. "But if you don't think you are having a future in the Marines, then don't push it. We will be there for you whatever you choose." Clara hugged him back.

"Thanks Tulko."

"Even if you should continue your temporary path as a dancer, we fully support your decision." The snicker in his voice was not lost on her. She hit him with a soft punch in his side.

"Shut up!" she pouted. "You know that I only learned that because of a bet."

"Hehe, it was entertaining nonetheless."

"Bah… I love you, but I think it's time for you to go to bed."

"Yeah… Uhm… I think I'll wait a bit longer… I…" Clara almost sighed. He was obviously looking for an excuse to stay.

"Waiiiting for someone?" she teased back. As Tulko opened his mouth to try and explain she put her hands up as in defeat.

"No, don't say anything. I'll let you stay if you want to." He sighed, thankful for not having to find another lie as why he wanted to stay. Clara gave him one last hug, said goodnight and turned to leave. Tulko had not moved and gave her a small have as she left. He smiled as his best friend now walked home. But before he could feel safe from her prying person, she turned toward him, now walking backwards.

"Besides… I have a pretty good guess as to why you want to stay." She blinked to him with a huge smirk on her face and then disappeared down a corner. Tulko was left standing with a blushing red face.

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A huge thanks to you guys who have followed or favorited this story. It means the world to me. You are welcome to write in the reviews or a PM if you have any questions, suggestions or the like.

Hopefully you got to know Clara a lot better through this chapter? And yes, I plan on letting her meet Ace face-to-face very soon. (^o^)=b