Sorry for the wait, guys. Will you ever forgive me? Ah, well, here's the next chappy! I'm so evil, I put Yuki in a scary dress.

:D

Party time

Yuki grinned contently as Celi and the maids pouted like children. She'd spent the entire day running around the castle, escaping from the dresses they wanted to put her in. Eventually, she was put into an elegant black dress with a long slit going up the right leg. A shall was around her shoulders going down to her elbows so that all of her bandages were hidden. Celi and all of the maids, overjoyed at the idea of having another girl to dress up like a doll, had no-doubt wanted her in something cute and fluffy.

Yuri stiffened upon seeing his sister and then sighed, glancing sideways at Celi. "She's going to be the death of me, Wolfram."

"It is a formal event." Wolfram half-defended his mother. "If she wasn't injured then Mother would have probably put her in a much more revealing dress."

"How are you handling being without a weapon?" Conrad asked Yuki carefully. He'd known her for barely a day and already knew she was the type to feel exposed without a weapon.

"Who says I'm unarmed?" Yuki grinned back.

"B-But where?" Wolfram squeaked. The dress was nearly skin-tight. Where could she possibly hide a weapon?

"I've learned to be creative." Yuki grinned slyly. Then she paled and dove behind Gunter. "I was never here." She stated before disappearing in the middle of a crowd.

"Awe…" Celi whined as she ran up and looked around, a small bag of makeup in her hand. "Your Majesty, do you know where Yuki-sama is? It's been a whole hour. We must fix her makeup. She's already beautiful, of course. But I think blue eye-shadow would bring out those gorgeous black eyes…"

"No idea. Sorry." Yuri told her. "I'll pass on the message, though." He bent slightly to look around the woman. "Oh, is that…?"

Celi bolted in the direction Yuri had pointed, which was actually the opposite direction that Yuki had run off in.

"Sense when have you been so good at lying?" Wolfram asked, shocked.

"Covering for Yuki is pretty much second-nature. It'd probably be for you, too, if you had a sister. Our mothers are pretty similar in their urge to dress everything up." Yuri explained.

Wolfram grinned slightly at the idea. The only reason he wasn't completely against his mother's constant flirting was because he'd always wanted a little sister to protect. He nodded, satisfied and agreeing that he'd also do whatever possible to help his sister if he had one… which he did now because he already considered Yuki his sister-in-law.

Eventually, Gunter, Conrad, and Gwendal all split up to talk with other nobles that made up their alliance. It was pretty much a party to bring together the alliance. Yuki stayed in the shadows, trying to ignore the pain ripping through her body as her heart twisted. Though it was more formal than it'd ever been back home… it wasn't exactly rare for the Whitebeard Pirates to bring all their allies together and have a party.

We'll get Ace back. And then we'll have a bit party, the biggest ever! It didn't seem to take much to remind her of the crew that'd probably never be the same again. A hundred sons without their father…

The aura was suffocating and Yuki eventually disappeared out an open window. She scaled the side of the castle, taking a deep breath when she got to the roof that oversaw the courtyard.

"Ya alright?" A voice called from behind her. Yozak.

Quickly, Yuki hid all emotion. She crossed her arms, half glaring at him. "No fair. How come you don't have to dress up?"

He laughed, holding his hands up. "I'm on duty." He grinned widely, looking down at Conrad in the courtyard. "And glad to be. I'm a spy, yeah, but I have a uniform for formal events. Identical to Conrad's, though obviously bigger to fit me. Anyway, I can never get out of it fast enough." He swung his arms around, grinning. "So easy to move around in these. And with what I do for a living, I need to move a lot."

"Same." Yuki chuckled, taking off her shall. The dress was strapless and her bandages went nearly down to her elbows. "Parties are not my thing. Nor is hiding my scars like they're something to be ashamed of."

"You're a girl, Yuki. Girls aren't supposed to be fighters." Yozak stated. "And do you really want to put up with everyone's pity?"

Yuki made a face and crossed her arms. "Whatever." She muttered.

"You're so much like Julia that it's kind of scary." Yozak chuckled. "She hated parties. She always insisted on wearing her uniform to represent the army, just like all the other soldiers do. It drove Lady Cile up the walls. Back then, Adlabert was still with us."

Yuki stiffened, glancing back at him. "What happened to him?" She's spoken to Julia before. Julia would often say that Yuki was supposed to take her spot next to Adlabert, how he was strong enough to protect even her. Just because she wasn't going to marry the guy because a dead chic said they'd be good for each other doesn't mean she wasn't worried about him.

Yozak sighed. "When Julia died… he changed. He was always a cold man. War-hardened. But he loved Julia. It was amazing to watch the man go from cold warrior to concerned lover. She was his soft spot. When she died during the war… it was like someone took a knife to his soft-spot and twisted it whenever her name was even hinted at."

"Both soldiers." Yuki sighed. "So everything about this country was pretty much a constant reminder of what he lost. Like pouring salt into a wound. Looks like Adlabert and I have a lot in common."

"He turned traitor, basically. I haven't heard anything of him as of lately, especially now that he knows that Yuri is pretty much Julia." Yozak stated. "I like to think he's cooling his head somewhere, coming to terms with the fate Julia already accepted." He sighed, sitting down. "I don't exactly enjoy the thought of opposing a man that was once my comrade."

"I hope you're right. I'll do what I can to avoid him, though. I've seen Julia's spirit. I know how much I look like her." Yuki stated. She sighed, glancing at the bright stars. "I know what it feels like to have a constant reminder of someone you lost."

Yozak sighed, looking up at the girl. He'd sworn to protect Yuri, and felt that by extension he was also meant to protect his sister as well. But, somehow, he doubted the girl even knew what it felt like to be protected. Nearly covered in bandages and scars, Yozak wouldn't be surprised if the girl had seen more battles than him and Conrad put together.

"Dye your hair blue and wear colored contacts and we'll have one hell of a prank." Yozak offered.

Yuki grinned, though it didn't reach her eyes.

Suddenly, she jumped up, looking around. "Something's wrong." She stated. "I need to find Yuri." A second after she took off running across the roof, an explosion so loud it nearly shook the walls alerted everyone else to the fact that something was wrong. Almost instantly, the night sky was red with fire.

Yozak shook off his confusion, bolting to figure out what happened and then report to Gwendal.

Yuki, forever thankful that being the reincarnation of a blind person meant she had mastery of Observation Haki, quickly dove in through the window that led to the room that Yuri, Wolfram, Greta, and Greta's friend were in. She swung into the room, pulling out two daggers that had been strapped to the backs of her upper arms.

"You picked the wrong family to mess with." She grinned, crouching down in front of the four of them. A dozen men surrounded them, far too identical to be natural. "Yuki, Wolfram, take the girls and go. Get back to the others. These guys aren't your everyday assassins."

Wolfram pulled out his sword, standing beside Yuki. "Yuri, go. We'll cover you."

Yuki and Wolfram fought side by side until they suddenly circled around them and used some sort of magic. Yuki didn't go down the first time and Yuri bolted to help her once the girls were running for help… but they got her the second time around and took off running with the two hostages. Yuri ran like a madman. He refused to lose his sister for a second time.

I love making Yuki stronger than Yuri. For those of you who wanted Yuki to be the one being saved for once, here you go. Big brother to the rescue!

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