Characters read Yet Another
By: FunahoMisaki
(A/N: I own nothing and read last chapter)
"Galette had been gone for a week without her siblings knowledge before she faked her death, which meant that the group of three women had a rather large head start just in case."
"How?!" Her older siblings were losing their minds as they all tried to figure out how their sister had been gone for so long without them noticing.
"Ah…so this is…" Amande trailed off softly and Galette looked at her before she stood up, getting Reiju's help standing.
Walking over to the Charlottes as everyone watched, Galette grabbed Piore and Brulee both by the hands and then dragged them over to Amande before perching herself in her mothers lap and snuggling all three of them somehow.
"It's alright. I'm alive and well." Galette said softly to them and they all looked a lot more relieved as Amande wrapped her arms around her daughter and little sisters while Brulee had Galette and Piore in her arms and Piore was clinging onto Galette.
"My butter clone has taken a lot of damage, they'll think I'm dead for sure now…I'll give it three days before I destroy the clone." Galette said after she had paused for a moment to absorb the memories that came in from the clone."
"A clone. She can make clones." Monte-d'Or said staring at Galette who gave them a small grin and nod.
"That's new." Smoothie muttered as she stared at the Devil Queen.
"Faking your death at your own birthday party, you are cruel my dear." Yamato said smiling slightly as she shook her head but gave her red haired wife a quick kiss on the lips."
"Have you met my grandmother or seen my mother fight?" Galette asked Yamato who smiled, the two of them still being cuddled by their parents while Reiju and Luffy were holding each other.
"I was born a Charlotte." Galette said with a grin on her face, as if that explained everything and considering her family and mother it really did."
"I mean…that's true but also your grandmother." Amande said nodding her head at that and making Galette shrug a little bit.
"I didn't know the truth at that time Mama." Galette reminded the snake neck who nodded.
"At Whole Cake Island mere minutes ago
"Here Galette, it looks like these are for you." Smoothie said smiling at her baby sister as she set a large box and four smaller boxes down in front of the birthday girls."
"I don't know how she does it…but Reiju can always get her hands on explosives." Yamato said nodding at that and Reiju just grinned at her.
"Assassin!"
"Robin's an assassin too but she doesn't use explosives!"
"Well…."
"Oh my god Robin."
"Who got her five presents? I thought we all agreed to give her and Poire both one present each this year." Amande said looking around at the siblings gathered for the birthday party for the twins sternly.
"It says it's from a secret admirer." Smoothie said smirking at her sister who blushed at that while the rest of the family began grinning and teasing her immediately."
"Well it was actually from my wife…"
"And we know that now sweetheart. Not then." Amande reminded her daughter.
"Oh? Someone's getting popular." Mondee said teasing her little sister who blushed harder and scowled at them all.
"Well Galette's always been popular. Do you not notice all the fan mail and love letters her ministry building gets?" Monte-d'Or asked and the siblings looked surprised while Galette groaned.
"Don't remind me of those. Some of them are just so damn cheesy or gross…" Galette said and Amande narrowed her eyes.
"This is the first I'm hearing of this."
"Because it's embarrassing!"
"I don't know. I've seen some of the stuff you're sent and some of those, what are they called 'Fan arts', are actually really good!" Brulee spoke up.
"Oh my god you saw those?! Please tell me it wasn't any of the dirty ones." Galette looked horrified while her spouses tensed and all eyes shot to her.
"Someone's been drawing and sending you porn?!" Oven asked in disbelief and disgust.
"Of yourself?" Cracker demanded making Galette look embarrassed and angry but nod.
"I never saw those. The one I liked the best was that picture someone drew of a little girl on the island wearing a coat like yours and putting a flower in your hair while you slept under a tree." Brulee said and Galette paused.
"Oh that one? That's one of my favorites too. I still have it in my rooms." Galette said and she looked relived that Brulee hadn't seen those dirty pictures that some people drew of her.
"As soon as I find out who's been drawing and sending you those pictures…they're losing their reproductive organs." Amande growled out and the fact that she wasn't going to use anesthesia was left unspoken but widely known.
"Only if you get to em first." Luffy cracked his knuckles pointedly while Reiju had some purple mist starting to leak from her lips only for her to suck it back in and Yamato was tensing her muscles until her dad gave her a small croon that had her relaxing.
"Let's see who's it from." Poire said picking up the envelope that came with the boxes that were surrounding her and Galette who went to open the big box first."
"Yeah I planned on Piore going for the letter, she's curious like that. And if she went for the box first I was ready to fight her to open it myself that way she didn't get hurt." Galette said glancing at the girl she had thought was her twin…well…even if they really aren't twins they had still been raised as twins for so long…
Yep Piore was still her twin. Galette didn't care how it would look on the family tree.
"Katakuri's eyes flashed red and he went pale.
"Poire! Galette!" Katakuri tried to yell a warning but the lid was already off the box."
"We also anticipated that." Reiju said nodding her head slightly to the second son who was staring down angrily. He had seen things too late…and they had planned for and around him seeing the future somehow.
"Galette had reacted almost as fast as her big brother and had released a wave of butter that knocked her siblings away…it didn't smother the explosions that washed over her however and blew a few of her other siblings back."
"That was also determined ahead of time so that I could clear everyone of the blast radius." Galette said nodding and everyone except the Straw Hats were impressed with how much thought that they had all put into faking their deaths and making it look very realistic.
"Ahhhh!" Galette's scream was sure to haunt her siblings for a while as the other four boxes exploded as well, knocking her around like a rag doll and keeping the others from being able to get near."
"It did. I still hear her screams…" Smoothie trailed off with a shiver.
"Sorry." Galette apologized sheepishly.
"Galette!" Smoothie yelled horrified, having caught Poire when she had been knocked back by the butter.
"She sensed it too late to avoid it so she tried to smother the explosion with her butter and in that same move she cleared the blast radius of everyone else." Compote said covering her face from the heat of the explosions as they finally began to die down and the dust began to settle."
"Given I'm the only one who inherited most of Mama's Iron Skin I was prepared to charge in there and cover Galette from the explosions but there were little ones behind me that needed to be protected as well…" Compote said trailing off and wondering if Galette had honestly planned for that as well.
"Galette! Galette!" Amande had rushed into the smoke first, Brulee half a second behind her as they rushed to check on their sister.
"It's…too late…" Katakuri whispered stunned as he slowly moved forward into the smoke and then sank to his knees.
"Oi Katakuri-nii-chan! What do you mean it's too late?!" Angel asked as she waved the smoke away from her face and moved towards her big brothers side."
"It was one of the very few times I remembered him acting like that and considering the first time was when Brulee was attacked…" Angel trailed off with a grimace that the rest of the older sibling copied.
"Medic! Brulee go drag a medic here immediately!" Amande was heard calling from within the smoke and dust as it started to slowly settle…and her voice…the tone of Amande's voice had the blood in her siblings veins freezing. She was…Amande was worried openly and sounded downright frantic."
"Amande-nee had never sounded anything other than melancholic or upset whenever speaking before. She's always unhurried so for her to be rushed and panicked…" Cinnamon said shaking her head and recalling exactly how her heart had dropped when he had heard her sisters yell.
"Amande…nee…chan…" The smoke and dust finally settled to show the heart stopping scene in the smoke. Amande was on her knees and had Galette cradled in her arms close to her chest…and Galette…she was badly burnt. Burnt black in some parts of her exposed skin and there was blood dribbling from her mouth. The right side of her face…was burnt so badly that her eye was permanently damaged as was her ear and it seemed as if talking had broken open the blisters and burnt skin that had immediately formed, making even more blood fall from her face."
"Ouch. That looks almost as bad as before Princess Mansherry healed you." Yamato said wincing at the physical damage done to her wife who shrugged a bit.
"Well my ear is still gone and I am mostly blind in that eye but at least from Blackbeards attack it was only half of my face that got wrecked, not my whole face like the explosion did…" Galette trailed off and Piore and Brulee both tightened their arms around her even more.
"Even if your scar covered your entire face you'd be beautiful." Luffy said softly as he smiled at her while she blushed slightly and buried her face in Piore's hair.
"Yes it's me Galette. Just hang on okay? I need you to hang on for me while Brulee goes to get the medics." Amande said and her hat had been blown away by the explosions, allowing her family their first look at her without her hat on in a long time."
"If I don't wear it none of you respect my personal boundaries."
"Don't…don't both…ther…we…I'm…no…not…" Galette tried to get out but she was coughing hard with almost every other word, her lungs and throat obviously damaged by the explosions but her message was clear."
"Huh this is actually pretty close to my wounds from Blackbeard. I couldn't talk for two days after all and my throat was sore and raspy for weeks!"
"The more I hear you talk about how Blackbeard and his crew nearly killed you the more I want to slice them apart." Amande growled as she tightened her arms around her daughter.
"Get in line." Reiju growled and she recalled that, seeing Galette's wounds and hearing the womans heartbreak over being thrown away by Big Mom.
"Don't say that! You're not…you're not going to die Galette. You're too strong for that!" Amande said but her eyes were watery and her grip on her sister was tight. They…despite how much they wished otherwise….they all knew that she was too badly hurt just on the skin level much less any internal injuries."
"The concussive force of those blasts, especially in such close range, should have almost instantly made most of your internal organs burst if not liquify them." Chopper said tilting his head as he thought about it and making more than a few people shiver. Okay so the Straw Hat Pet was scary as fuck. Good to know.
"You've been spending too much time with Robin and probably Amande too." Usopp said bluntly to the reindeer who just gave him an innocent smile and snuggled into Robin's arms.
"Besides even if they could save her she'd be badly disfigured for the rest of her life…something Mama wouldn't tolerate since it meant that Galette couldn't be married off. Even if they were able to save her…mama might kill her anyways."
"That's…that's true." Big Mom admitted with a wince while Galette shrugged.
"Most guys might not like a woman with scars but they're just cowards and assholes. My spouses love me with or without scars!" Galette said smiling brightly at her spouses who smiled at her.
"Of course we do. We fell in love with your personality, not your body." Luffy said gently and softly to her.
"Although your very much smoking hot body helps." Reiju added.
"Who cares about scars? You're still our cute cuddly devil!" Yamato beamed at her wife who scowled and blushed but looked happy and relieved.
"Bakas. If I lose my reputation you're all sleeping in the brig!"
"We have a brig?"
"If you want me in chains dear then just ask." Reiju said with a smirk as she stared at Galette who went wide eyed and blushed brightly at that while Brulee and Poire snickered at how embarrassed she got.
"I…is…any….one….else…" Galette kept getting interrupted by the coughing that forced more blood out of her mouth and onto Amande's dress, not that the snake neck cared about that or even noticed at the moment."
"I wanted to make sure that none of them got hurt. While we planned as best as we could things can always go wrong."
"No…the rest of us are okay…only a few bruises from your butter wave knocking us back or the force of the explosion. You…you managed to save everyone else Galette." Brulee was right beside her little sister as she held her badly burnt hand in between Brulee's own, tears already cascading down the mirror witch's face."
"I've always been a crier and I'm not apologizing for it!"
"I'm….glad…" Galette smiled and then looked up when she felt the tears hit her face, causing her to hiss in pain a bit when they fell on the worst of her burns.
"I will apologize for accidentally hurting you."
"No…cry…smi…le…pre…tty…when…sm…ile…" Galette's voice was getting weaker as the rest of her siblings stared in wide eyed shock and horror, some of them starting to go into shock. Particularly Poire."
"Sorry Poire-chan."
"Ama…nee…sm…ile…fo…me…" Galette's words were almost slurred as she stared up at Amande whose tears nearly doubled at this.
"I love you little sister." Amande near sobbed out as she held Galette tighter but forced herself to give a small watery smile to her baby sister."
"I'm still sorry about that mama." Galette murmured to her mother who buried her face in her daughters hair.
"It's okay. I'm just glad that you're alive." Amande murmured back.
"Lo…ve…you…Ama…" Galette seemed so happy to see her big sister smile one last time as she smiled as much as she could back up at Amande.
"So…rry…" Galette rasped out an apology, trying to hang on as much as she could until she said all she needed to."
"Since the Butter Clone was a perfect copy that meant that she was saying the same things I would have if I were actually dying."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Amande said softly and she kept smiling, her baby sister was going to die in her arms on her birthday…the least….the least she could do was honor her request to see Amande smile. Just…one last time."
"And now I can see you and your smile everyday!"
"Was…cry…ba…by…al…wa…ys….w…eak…al…way…s…wa…nte…d…to…ge…t…st..ro…ng…er…li…ke…you…Loo…ked…up…to…you…an…no…yed…you…so…much…"
"You never annoyed me Galette. I loved every moment I spent with you." Amande murmured into her daughters hair.
"Galette was forcing it all out now as her breathing grew ragged and most of her siblings were crying now but none dared to leave. They…they were losing their sister and not to any battle or their mothers hunger pangs…no they were losing her to a cowardly bombing on her own birthday."
"Do not make me cry again you little shit." Angel said although there was no heat to her words as all of the Charlotte siblings stared at Galette and most of them, particularly the older ones, had tears in their eyes.
"You were never an annoyance and you were stronger than you thought. You managed to save anyone else from getting hurt after all. You're still hanging on right now…you…you should save your strength." Amande said and there was an almost desperate edge to her voice at the end.
"I…don…t…ne…ed…it… Ama…I…lo…ve…yo…u…an…d…I'…m…so…rry…" Galette apologized again and Amande was fighting to keep her smile on her face.
"You have nothing to be sorry for little sister." Amande choked out as her smile began to waver but she forced it to remain on. She…had to keep smiling…at least…at least until the end."
"Nothing at all. We're pirates baby girl. Live your life with no regrets." Amande whispered and Poire was tightly clinging to Galette although she was confused at how Amande was acting. Brulee held Galette and Poire both tightly and gave an understanding look to Amande.
"Th…an…k…you…for…smi…li…ng…yo…u…we…re…al…wa…ys…my…fav…" Galette's voice died out at the end but they all knew what she was saying as her body went limp.
"Galette! Galette!" Amande shook her sister a little bit to try and wake her back up but it was no use. They could all feel that her Haki was gone. That she was gone."
"Yeah my butter clone was actually dead, not just hiding her Haki." Galette said with a wince and the rest of the Charlottes wiped their eyes or looked away. They…it wasn't just her faking her death but her butter clone had actually died. If…if it had been real and Galette had actually been sent those bombs but hadn't planned for it…
"Who sent the note?" Daifuku asked Poire lowly and the crying sharp toothed girl couldn't even talk, she just handed it over.
"The black sheep of the Whitebeards huh?" Daifuku growled out as he read the note, trying his best to ignore his usually so aloof sister begging Galette to wake up."
"Amande-nee's voice haunted me more than the sight of Galette's body…" Cinnamon said glancing at the older sister who didn't even look at her.
All Amande had eyes for was the devil horned red head in her arms.
"Get ahold of the Whitebeards. I want to know who this Black sheep is and I want to know now. He will pay for this." Perospero ordered, his hat shadowing his eyes but doing nothing to hide the twin trails of tears going down his cheeks.
"Wake up Galette. Please wake up!" Amande was begging, her smile gone as she sobbed."
"It's alright Mama. I'm here…I'm here and alive and happy and safe." Galette murmured to her mother who nodded but said nothing.
"Amande-nee-san…she's…" Brulee tried to comfort her sister somehow despite the tears falling from her own eyes but the confirmation that Galette was gone only served to shatter Amande's resolve.
"Galette….Galette!" Amande held her baby sisters body close and sobbed brokenly, howling like the damned while the other siblings around her that weren't so cold hearted and distant began sobbing as well."
Even now most of the older siblings and Poire had tears in their eyes as they recalled how it felt to see and hear that with clarity. Most of them could hear each of Amande's sobs and cries and Galette's raspy broken words as clearly as if it happened ten seconds ago.
"Even when Big Mom appeared demanding to know what had happened Amande couldn't stop sobbing as she held onto her baby sister. Even when they tried to take her sisters body away Amande just held on tighter and shook her head in the negative as sobs wracked her body.
No! Not her sister! Not her little sister! Amande was supposed to protect her little sisters and brothers! But she had failed! Her sister was gone! Galette, the little star struck cry baby who used to stay right on Amande's heels and holding onto her dress was gone! Amande would never enjoy snacks and drinks with her little sister again, never enjoy spending time with her sister whenever they were able to make the time…she'd never get to comfort her sister after a nightmare or visit her to help her feel better when she was sick or injured from a fight!"
Amande's arms tightened and she was forcing herself to breath steadily as she tried to fight back her tears. It wasn't real. It wasn't…it both was real and it wasn't since that clone had died and it was just like Galette and said what her daughter had wanted to say. Galette was here in her arms and safe and happy and with a little baby of her own on the way.
"Her baby sister was gone! She was gone, gone, gone, g0ne and Amande hadn't been able to do anything to stop it!
Back on the ship with the three Queens
Galette stared in the direction of Whole Cake Island sadly as the wind blew through her hair.
'I'm sorry Amande-nee-san…I hope you find that letter and understand. I hope that one day…you can forgive me for this.'"
"I already have. I forgave you the very second I found that letter, much less when I saw you and you had explained everything to me." Amande said softly and Galette smiled softly at her.
The book vanished and then appeared in a teary eyed Smoothie's hands.