Hehe

Spring Break is so close and, to celebrate, I'm updating early. Be happy. I should be studying for my Chemistry 222 final! Anyway, the twins are finally back together again!

Yuri is a big brother again

Yuri arrived just in time to see his little twin sister slap the blade of Wolfram in between her little hands, catching the lethal piece of metal. She then kicked it out of his hands, letting it fly into the air only to catch it without even looking, posing with two swords and grinning.

"Your sword is dull." She stated as she stood up straight and looked over the sword. "Are soldiers not taught how to maintain their own weapons?"

"All spirits affiliated with the element of fire…" Wolfram began his chant.

"Alright then." Yuki grinned, her eyes slitting and her hair growing about six inches longer. "I've never dueled someone like me before."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Yuri commanded as he ran up, standing between them. "Yuki, stop this right now."

"Stand aside, Yuri. This is a duel for honor." Wolfram demanded.

"Duel postponed." Yuki shrugged, her hair and eyes back to normal. She grinned slightly, a water dragon cuddling up to her hand like a cat. "Paranoid brothers can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."

"Damn straight I'm paranoid!" Yuri squeaked, cursing for the first time right in front of everyone. "Where the hell have you been all this time?" Then he took off running when she sent the small water dragon after him, snapping its jaws at his ass. "Yuki, stop it! I'll tell Mom!"

"Not a chance. Do you have any idea how hard these guys are to summon back home?" She laughed, waving her hands slightly as she directed the water dragon.

"You're abusive!"

"This is what you get for interrupting a fun fight." Yuki countered. "Now stop running around, you chicken. It just wants a little bite."

"Stop laughing and HELP ME!" Yuri yelled as the soldiers began to fall over, in severe danger of pissing themselves as they laughed their asses off.

"Are you really his sister?" Wolfram asked. "Yuri, you wimp, why didn't you ever tell me you had a sister?!"

"They assumed me dead when I disappeared ten years ago." Yuki stated. "And the second I showed up, he fainted."

"I DID NOT FAINT!" Yuri snapped, face completely red.

Every soldier within earshot was in stitches.

"So, I was just trying to fight a soon-to-be sister-in-law…?" Wolfram asked carefully.

"Yeah, it seems kinda like a trend these days." Yuki chuckled, remembering her first encounter with Hancock who claimed to be Luffy's fiancée. "If I end up fighting Shori's fiancé then I can actually say it's a weird family tradition."

"Eh? Yuri's elder brother? Is he betrothed as well?" Gunter asked as he walked up.

"Dunno. Be kinda weird if the younger brother gets hitched first, though." Yuki shrugged. "The trend seems to be a solid 'everyone but me' these days."

"A cute girl like you? Nonsense! Any man in his right mind would be drooling over you like an animal." The woman reminded Yuki a lot of Hancock, though she seemed to be more of a shameless-flirt kind of woman. "I am Cacilie von Spitzweg. Please call me Celi."

"Men don't usually go for girls that can kick their ass in a heartbeat." Yuki chuckled. She'd been told that more times than she could count. Even the bandits used to tease her that she'd never find herself a man if she kept on acting like a brat, not that they were one to talk about women not acting ladylike.

"Ah, and you've already met my youngest son." She enveloped him in a hug, shoving his face into her large bust.

"Motherrr!" Wolfram groaned.

Yuri sighed in relief, walking up. Once Yuki had been distracted by Celi, the water-dragon had fallen to the ground in a puddle, no longer chasing him. "You're too young to be looking for a husband, anyway." He told his sister. "So, how about a tour from the king himself? I'll tell you about this world and you tell me about wherever the hell you have been for the last ten years. Deal?"

Yuki chuckled, handing Wolfram his sword. "As the king's fiancé, it's your duty above all others to protect him, right?" She asked him, stepping back and sheathing the sword she'd been using. She handed it to the soldier she'd 'barrowed' it from, thanking him for the lend as if she hadn't snatched it before he even saw her there.

Wolfram was taken aback but nodded. "Yes. Though, he's starting to need the protection less and less."

"I'll be sharpening your sword, then. The poor thing is covered in dents and cracks. A few more battles and it may snap right in half." Yuki stated, leaving no room for argument. "Besides, I can't just let my brother-in-law fight with a dull sword, now can I?"

Wolfram reddened slightly. Instantly, it felt just about as embarrassing as being taken care of by his mother but worse. He was the soldier. She was not. It wasn't her job to take care of HIM in any way.

"Do I even want to know why you'd be good at sharpening lethal weapons?" Yuri muttered.

"Probably not." Yuki grinned, pecking him on the cheek lightly. "Now come on, I wanna see your kingdom."

Yuri chuckled, wrapping an arm around her securely. "Some things never change. Ah, but first you need to meet Greta. She's my daughter."

Yuki nearly tripped. "Your what?"

"Adopted." Wolfram stated. "I'm her father, too."

"Oh." Yuki chuckled. "Alright then."

Greta turned out to be an adorable little girl with sun-kissed skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. She was full of giggles and was overjoyed to learn that she had an aunt, even more so when she learned that they were going into town.

Everyone greeted Yuri as 'Your Majesty' but they did it like they were old friends. Yuri even greeted some back by name. The children of the village near the castle were especially informal, quick to nearly demand to see Morgif, an odd sword that had a face and spoke through moans. They thought it was funny and enjoyed making faces that the sword copied while constantly making kiss-faces at Yuki.

"Ah, it seems like he likes Yuki more." Yuri chuckled after sheathing the moaning sword. "This is my sister, Yuki."

"So you have an aunt now? So do I!" A little girl chirped at Greta, exited that she had something in common with the princess. "So when my parents are off on military business, I stay with her. Mom and Dad are both in the army."

Eventually, they stopped up at a tree. It was on a large hill that oversaw the entire village and the sunset coming over the horizon was gorgeous. Conrad was with them, standing off to the side next to the tree. Wolfram and Greta were busy making a tiara out of flowers.

"We've found three of the four boxes. Once we've got all four, we'll re-seal them all. Then, hopefully, all of these freaky things will stop. Handling the usual enemy is one thing, but… this isn't something I want to have to get used to. A man being possessed and forced to destroy dozens of villages… he remembered nothing, but now he has to have all of that on his conscious." Yuri sighed. "So, how about you? What was up with that disappearing act, anyway?"

"We're both heirs to this throne, Yuri. We're both reincarnations of Julia. Our souls are identical." Yuki stated. "Shinou came to me when we were kids. If there were two heirs to the throne, then the people would have been conflicted. Who to follow? Who was their true Maou? One of us had to leave… be far enough so that when you're summoned, I'm not dragged along with you." She leaned back against the grass, hands behind her head as a pillow. "I'm sorry I had to abandon you like that, Yuri. But one of us had to leave and you would have never survived on your own."

Conrad stiffened, his eyes snapping to his godson and goddaughter. Why? Why did his goddaughter have to make that decision? She shouldn't have. She should have stayed. They would have figured something out. She could have had the same peaceful life as her brother.

"That's not a problem anymore, Yuki." Yuri stated, looking her in the eye. "The people recognize me as their Maou. They love me. You appearing will not cause any trouble."

"Now." Yuki added. At the time, it was a legit problem. She smiled, looking at him before looking back to the sky. "Much like this one is medieval compared to Earth, so was the one I was sent to. It's a world of mostly oceans. The World Government is corrupt and most nobles are so sick and twisted that your mysterious new enemy would probably fit right in. For mostly that reason, people become pirates and bandits. They see just how evil their so-called protectors are and they want to oppose them." She stated. "I appeared in the middle of a forest and was found by mountain bandits. They were already raising three boys. It was actually Luffy to take me in first. Sabo and Ace came around soon after that and the bandits were… well, they let me eat their food and sleep in their house." She chuckled at the fond memories. "Sabo was actually a noble. But he was so disgusted by his family that he ran away."

"Yeah, the nobles here aren't really that bad." Yuri told her. Though some were full of themselves and quite spoiled (Wolfram), he didn't think any were that bad.

"Sabo died first. The second he set off to become a pirate, his family sunk him. Never knew the bandits liked us that much until we got that news." Yuki sighed. "I don't even want to know how ballistic they went when Ace was murdered last month. Probably should swing over sometime and show them that I'm alive."

"What… happened to him?" Yuri asked carefully.

"A few years ago, Ace and I set off to be pirates. The Spade Pirates. We kinda had a card-theme going on. We shot up the ranks pretty fast by taking down the more disgusting pirate crews and targeting all the slave-drivers. Ace wanted to prove that he was stronger than his father so we tracked down the only rival his father had that was still alive… who just happened to hold the title of 'Strongest man in the world'. The fight went on for days and we eventually lost, somehow ending up joining the crew. Whitebeard was his name, though because he considers the crew his sons, we called him 'Pops'. To the rest of the world, we were outcasts. With him, we were a family." She sighed, keeping her eyes on the clouds. "Ace's father was the Pirate King, Gold Roger. Because of that, he was captured by the Marines…. They were pretty excited about murdering the son of the Pirate King. We all rushed to save him." Pain ripped through her torso as she remembered that battle, though she didn't show any of it on her face. "Sometimes, people die who don't disserve to die. Even our power isn't even enough to save everyone."

"I know." Yuri sighed, picking her up and holding her tightly. "Maybe, someday, I'll be strong enough to go to that world and meet your friends."

"Your head would be on a wanted poster faster than you could blink, just for being seen next to me." Yuki chuckled. "I'm nothing but a criminal."

"In a twisted world with a corrupt government." Conrad muttered.

"True. But there's never a boring moment." Yuki grinned, resulting in Conrad stiffening and scowling. She smiled contently, wrapping her arms around her brother's torso and closing her eyes. "But, now that it's been decided that you're the king, I can pop up and help you out. Never mess with the brother of a pirate."

Yuri sighed, fingering the bandages that covered her torso. "You always did have a high pain tolerance. I still remember when we both fell off our bikes. You had a broken arm yet you still pretended you were fine and took care of me."

"Busted." Yuki muttered, knowing he'd seen the bandages. "Hay, I'm still healed enough to kick your fiancé's ass so don't even start." She grinned contently, not noticing the nasty look she got from said fiancé. Eventually, she fell asleep there in her brother's lap.

She woke up just before it was time to head back, traveling by horseback back to the castle. It became a parade of sorts, citizens watching them and waving happily. Yuri seemed to have the respect of halfway between a war hero and a best friend.

She went to bed at a decent hour if only to give herself a break from Celi and the other maids. There was a party/gathering coming up, apparently, and she was to attend. They wanted to dress her up and make her 'presentable'.

And now back to studying for my Chem 222 final and working on writing my other papers due the day after. Yay. Spring break is so close that I can taste it, and I promise you that I'm going to enjoy it FAR more than Yuki will this party coming up!

:D