Annie's Holiday
Special Act

A/N: Hey all! This is just a little filler episode about Annie's misadventures with Ver and Viv. I'll get back to the Star Buds and how they connect to Sailor Moon storyline as soon as I'm able. Until then, enjoy this lighthearted, whimsical piece. Happy Holidays!

Annie Hansha yawned a hearty yawn as she got out of bed. She pulled the curtains aside to reveal what the day had in store for her. Sure enough, it was another cold winter day. The sky was downcast and there were no clouds around.

She sighed as she realized it would be a sweater-boots-and-gloves day. Personally, she liked wearing boots and winter clothes were always her forte. However, she felt confined sometimes by all the layers of clothing she had to pile on herself. She didn't feel like going out much today anyway.

Maybe she could just sit back in a nice comfy chair with a cup of hot cocoa in her hands and watch the holiday parade on the holo-tv. Yeah, she could definitely live with that.

"WAKE UP!!!"

Annie jumped at the sudden loud, irritating noise that came from across the hall. At that moment, she knew her plans of hot cocoa and holo-tv were going down the drain and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Nothing, and she stressed nothing, ever went as planned.

"Wake up sleepy-head! You said we could go ice skating today!!!" the little girl's voice said.

"Go away," another voice replied.

"I'll go away when you wake up!"

"Go away."

"I'll go away when you WAKE UP!"

Annie rolled her eyes and flopped back down on her bed. This was going to be a long annoying, loud conversation between the two cousins. It would only cease if one of two things happen: Veronica would actually wake up or—

"I said go away!"

POW! THUD!

Yup, that was the second option: Veronica would make Vivicka go to sleep. Annie sighed for the second time this morning. Where were the other two older people in the house? They should be taking care of this!

Then, Annie realized that Maddy, the person she shared the room with and her best friend since the dawn of time, wasn't in the room at all.

"Mad?" she called out, "Mad? Could you go check on the little buggers?"

There was no reply.

"Ange!" she tried, "Ange!!!"

"Shuttup!" Veronica cried out grumpily. "They ain't here!"

Annie sat up. She thought for a moment.

"WHAT?!" she screamed.

A pillow came flying at her head and knocked her down.

"Shuttup!" said Veronica, standing in the doorway.

"You're awake!" Vivicka said as she bounced into the room. There was an obvious bump swelling up on her head.

"Go away," Veronica muttered.

Annie threw the pillow on the ground and got up, "You two, out! Lemme get dressed— "

"So you can take us ice skating!" Vivicka shouted.

"No, so I can spend the day at home. Besides, you two can look out for yourselves."

"I don't wanna go with just Ver. It's no fun! C'mon Auntie Anne!" Vivicka whined.

Veronica was just about sleeping standing up.

Annie sighed, for the third time. She hated when Viv called her Auntie Anne. It made her sound like a pretzel-maker. Yet, the little bugger looked really determined and she decided that it wouldn't be so bad to spend time with them.

She was wrong, extremely wrong. Once they stepped on that outdoor ice rink Veronica turned into a speed demon, knocking down anyone in her way and Vivicka sat down collecting the shaved pieces of ice to make snowballs to throw at people, especially the ones Veronica knocked down.

Annie had to rush over to people to apologize. The mother of one the children who got a mouth full of ice started to lecture Annie on ice-skating etiquette and the mother of another child started to yell at Annie not only for her hurt kid but for her divorce and unemployment too. Pretty soon, Annie just gave up and pretended she didn't know the two girls.

"Annie!" Vivicka yelled from across the ice rink, "Can you get us some hot chocolate?"

Annie, who yelled back to nobody in particular, replied, "Sure! I'll be right back!"

She was glad to get away from the two troublemakers for a while. Any excuse was a good excuse for her, even if she had to use her own money to buy drinks for the little devil children.

She walked along the street vendors in the town center. Finally, she got to a coffee stand that, thankfully, sold hot chocolate.

"Three cups please," Annie said as she got out her wallet.

The young man, about Annie's age, replied, "Nine dollars."

Annie was about to give him the money but stopped when she saw the drinks he was about to hand her. She looked at him incredulously.

"You're kidding me," she said, "I'm not paying nine dollars for cups that small. Give me regular sized cups at least! I know you rip off people, but not that badly."

"Listen, you ordered it, now you have to pay for it."

"No way. I ordered three cups of hot chocolate, not three shots of hot chocolate."

"These aren't that small! These are standard cups!"

"Yeah, standard for little elves! Gimme what I ordered!"

"This is what you ordered," he said loudly, "Now pay me the money!"

He said it a little too loudly because people were beginning to stare from across the street.

He lowered his voice, "Ahem… Look, five dollars will do."

Annie smiled and handed him a five. She was glad to get rid of that five—there was a red mark across the top that really bothered her because she liked her money nice and clean. Yeah, she was feeling good. She took the paper tray of cups and walked a couple of feet away when she realized that she didn't grab any napkins. As she turned back to get napkins, she saw the young man taking money from the cash register. She gasped. That little thief, she thought. She felt like she had to do something. The nerve of that creep to overcharge her and then steal in broad daylight! Well, he did give her a discount, but that was beside the point. He was now labeled a crook.

"Hey you!" she yelled, pointing at him, "Stop right there! In the name of all that is just and fair in this world, put that money back where you found it! I will not tolerate stealing or cheating of any kind! For if trouble or wrongdoing is afoot, you can be sure Annie Hansha will be there to stop it in its tracks!"

She had to throw her name in there just in case some reporter was around, taking the story, in which case, her name would definitely appear in the 5 o'clock news. Who knows? She might even get in the newspaper! They better get a good shot of me, she thought.

People started to gather around the stand now, murmuring to each other who accused who of what. Annie smirked at the young man's scared and surprised expression.

"W-What are you talking about?" he said angrily. "I wasn't stealing—"

"Save it for the jury buster!" Annie said before he could finish, "I saw you with my own two eyes and these eyes don't lie! You were taking money from that register!"

"Yeah, I was taking money but—"

Before he could finish again, Annie cut in, "Aha! So you do admit you were taking money! I should speak with the manager! How awful! Stealing money…"

People began to whisper and glare at the young man.

As he was about to say something, a man with a moustache and a green jacket pushed through the crowd and got to the stand.

"What is going on here?" he said in a deep, serious voice.

"Manager!" the young man said with a tension in his voice.

Annie was liking this even more. The manager was here! He would set everything right.

"Sir," she said, turning to the man, "This employee was caught taking money from the register. Stealing!"

"Hey, I wasn't—"

Before the young man could continue, the manager looked at him and said, "You're fired. Get out! Don't come back, ever."

The young man swallowed his words and there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. He took off his green jacket, the same one the manager was wearing, and flung it on the counter.

"Fine, uncle," he said as he stormed away, throwing a couple of bills over his shoulder.

Annie looked at the manager. Did that guy just say "uncle"?

The two crumpled bills fell to the wet ground. One was a one dollar bill and the other was a five with a distinct red dash on it.

"Oy, I think I made a mistake…" Annie whispered.

As she dashed down the street, she could catch bits and pieces of other people's conversation.

"Did you hear about that coffee stand?"

"That boy was stealing… I don't think I could trust people again."

"His own uncle fired him."

"He was yelling at a girl earlier."

"What about?"

"About giving him money."

Annie closed her eyes and stopped at a light post. She felt horrible. She ruined someone's life all because she had jumped to false conclusions. Now, some guy not only lost his job, but lost an uncle, probably his only family. Wait, she thought, I'm not jumping to anymore conclusions—I'm going to find out the truth…

Earlier, when she was at the stand, she tried to talk to the manager. He wouldn't listen to her at all.

"Sir, I've made a mistake. He wasn't stealing," she said.

"Sure, try to defend him now. Just because I'm his uncle, doesn't mean I can't treat him like everyone else."

"You don't feel any remorse at all?" Annie asked.

"Why should I? All that boy has ever caused me was grief. It's good he's finally gone now."

She stepped back, aghast. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The uncle was actually cutting off his nephew.

Annie decided to keep looking. There was no time for breaks. She was just about ready to dash off when she bumped into someone and got knocked to the ground.

"Hey, watch it!" she yelled as she got up and brushed herself off. "Are you trying to ruin my new vintage coat?"

"Well, well, are you trying to ruin my life?" the familiar voice said.

Annie looked up from her clothes and saw who she had bumped into.

"I'm so sorry," she said instantly, "I'm sorry for everything."

"Yeah, I try to do something nice for someone and they accuse me of stealing. Thanks a lot, you really made my holiday," he replied.

"Y'know, I feel really bad about that, but you shouldn't be moping around, standing in the street letting people bump into you."

"First off, I wasn't moping around. I was angrily strolling down the street. Secondly, I wasn't standing in the street, you were. Thirdly, I don't let people bump into me. You did that all your own Ms. Ice Queen."

Annie couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. No wonder his uncle wanted to kick him out so badly.

"Ms. Ice Queen?! Talk about third grade insults! I'm more insulted that you used such a low level insult than the insult itself!"

"What?" he said.

"That's right. Be confused. I see that's the only thing you're capable of."

He shook his head, "I don't have to put up with this. You've done enough to forever scar my life."

He began to walk away when Annie ran off to follow him.

"Hey, wait up! I'm sorry. I just get worked up sometimes. I really want to help you out."

He stopped and turned to Annie, "I forgive you Hansha. Now do me a favor and leave me alone. You don't have to delve into my worthless problems to make yourself feel better. Go and… shop or something."

Annie decided to ignore his last remark, "Hey, I live to help people and how'd you get my name?"

"Remember? You yelled it out when you accused me."

Oh yeah, she thought.

"Oh yeah!" she said. "But I like being called Annie."

He laughed at her and then waved goodbye, "Later Hansha."

"I promise I'll get your uncle to give you your job back!" she yelled.

With that, he left. Annie stood by another light post, pondering what she could do to fix all these problems she had created… well, partly created. She couldn't account for the guy's rotten attitude, but she was determined to find a way to get the guy's job back.

"Think Annie… think…" she said to herself.

"Yeah! Think!" a voice said behind her.

"You stink!" another voice added.

It sounded roughly familiar. Annie quickly turned around and saw two disgruntled dwarves glaring at her. Well, they weren't dwarves but they sure were disgruntled.

"Viv, Ver! I'm so sorry!" she said.

She found herself saying that too many times today. She had completely forgotten about them and their hot cocoa. She had to make it up to them somehow or else she'd never hear the end of it.

"Okay guys, I had a little trouble getting your hot cocoa but we can go get some right now."

"You think you can just buy us off?" Vivicka said. "I got bombarded by snowballs after you left!"

"Yeah and we got lost around town and when we stopped at this one crowded place 'cause we thought it was a show, this one punk was pushing his way out of the place and knocked us the hell over!" Veronica said as she tried using her arms to act out the situation.

Annie stood there blinking. They were at the coffee stand and that one guy was probably the one who pushed them over. So, technically, she was the one indirectly responsible for knocking them down.

"Alright, what about hot cocoa and a meal at McJujo's."

"What did I say about buying us off?" Vivicka said as she rubbed her bruised cheek.

"Anything you want at McJujos."

"Fine," Veronica said, "I'm get whatever I want and as much as I want."

Vivicka nodded.

Annie smiled. It was so easy to please kids. If only she could solve all her problems with money— money that was quickly diminishing.

They walked over to the McJujos and she let them order whatever they wanted. She paid for the large order and they sat down at a booth.

"You said you ran into some trouble," Veronica said who sat across from Annie.

"Yeah, I kinda got this guy fired."

Vivicka, who was sipping on some soda and was also sitting across from Annie, almost spit out her drink, "Wha???"

"Fired? Yeah, some lie," Veronica said as she stared out the window.

"I'm not lying!" Annie yelled, "It really did happen! This guy was fired by his uncle because I accused him of stealing but he was really paying the rest of the hot cocoa for me because I accused him of overpricing the drinks!"

Vivicka continued to drink her drink.

Veronica continued to stare out the window.

"What? You still don't believe me?"

"Yeah, you got the guy fired for paying for our imaginary hot cocoa?" Vivicka said, "Yup, makes lots of sense."

"Alright, I have proof. You know that crowd you guys stopped at? I was the one who caused it! And that guy that pushed you down, he was the guy that got fired!"

There was a sudden glint in Veronica's eyes. She looked at Annie. Annie recognized that glint in her eyes, it wasn't a good glint. It was a mischievous, obnoxious glint. Something was brewing in that brain of hers.

"So you know where that crowd was eh?" Veronica asked, suddenly sounding less angry.

"Yeah… why?" Annie replied suspiciously.

Vivicka put her cup down and she slowly began to grin. Something told Annie that Vivicka was getting on the same wavelength as her cousin.

"What are you guys thinking?"

"Order 626!" a voice called over the intercom.

"That's us!" Veronica said eagerly.

"Let's go!" Vivicka said as they both got up and walked to the counter to get their food.

Annie played with a napkin. At least she was on their good side again, she thought. All she had to worry about now was getting that guy's job back. Something about the uncle made her cringe. How could he be so heartless to his own nephew? What if his nephew was the illegitimate son of his sister and when she died, he had to take in the orphaned child and has always despised his nephew because he was a reminder of his dear, deceased sister's shame?

Annie shook that idea out of her mind. That would never happen, only in those dramas on TV.

The two girls came back with two trays of food.

"Wow, that's a lot," Annie said.

"Yeah," Vivicka said, "We'll be right back."

"Where you going?" Annie asked.

"To get the other two trays," Veronica said as if it was common for two people to eat four trays worth of food.

They soon came back with their other trays and began to dig into the food.

"Umm… you wan' some?" Veronica said between bites of her burger.

"No, it's okay. Looking at you guys eat have made me full enough."

They finished eating pretty quickly. They must have worked up an appetite from the ice-skating.

"Okay, so show us the place," Veronica said as they got out of McJujo's.

"What place?" Annie asked.

"The place where the crowd was."

"Umm… sure," Annie said.

What harm could it be? They just wanted to check out the place. Plus, she could talk to the uncle again.

"C'mon," she said, "Follow me."

They began to walk back toward the town center and down the street to where all the street vendors were. Annie stopped at the coffee stand and saw the uncle with his green jacket.

"Hey Poppop!" Vivicka said to the man as she leaned on the counter.

"Viv! Don't say that to him! He might get angry," Annie said.

Yup, she was actually scolding her. They were embarrassing most of the time; what else could she do? This was probably how Angela felt, she thought to herself. Oh no, she was hanging around the little buggers so much that she was starting to feel like Angela! She had to ditch them again.

Annie's train of thought was interrupted by Vivicka's whining.

"But Annie, this place is called Poppop's Coffee! He has to be Poppop because… because he works here!"

The uncle laughed at Vivicka's argument, "Yes little girl, you can call me Poppop. Do you want some hot chocolate?"

Annie was astonished at the man's kindness. He didn't act like that before when he fired his own nephew.

"Sure!" Vivicka said as she pointed at the biggest cup, "I want it in there."

Poppop laughed again and nodded, "Okay, anything for the little girl who calls me Poppop."

"Don't be greedy you little bugger!" Annie whispered fiercely.

When the uncle's back was turned, Vivicka stuck her tongue out at Annie, "You're just mad that Poppop likes me more than he likes you!"

Annie shook her head. This little girl needed a spanking and Angela would be the one to do it. Yes, Annie made a mental note to herself: tell Angela to hit some manners into the little dork.

Veronica, meanwhile, stood a little further away from the others. She was looking around for something or, more like, someone.

"What are you doing?" Annie said with a sigh. What was it? The fourth time today?

"Just being on the lookout," she replied.

Annie nodded and said to herself, "Okay, time to ditch them."

As Veronica was distracted by her "scouting" and Vivicka was talking to Poppop, Annie turned heel and dashed away from them.

That is, until she bumped into something, or more like, someone.

"Hey, watch it!" she yelled, but then remembered that she had done this before.

She looked up and sure enough, it was the guy whom she got fired.

"You!" they said at the same time.

"Here, lemme help you up," he said as he offered her his hand.

"No thanks," she said as she ignored his gesture and stood up, "I can get up on my own."

"Next time, watch where you're running or else you might run into someone who won't offer to help you."

Annie glared at him. Before she could voice her insult, a voice rang out behind her.

"That's him! That's him Viv!"

Annie turned around and saw Veronica pointing at the guy. Vivicka placed the huge cup of cocoa on the counter and started to follow Veronica, who was running towards them.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, but if I know them, which I don't by the way, you should start running now," Annie said.

He laughed at her, "Run from two little girls? I don't think so, Hansha."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she muttered as she stepped aside as the girls zoomed past her.

"Formation I-G-Y-B!" Veronica ordered.

"I-G-Y-B?" Annie said, "What in the name of—"

Vivicka had disappeared and Veronica charged at the guy. She kicked him square in the stomach. He wasn't prepared for such a strong kick from such a little girl. As he stumbled back, he felt a rock behind his feet which caused him to fall headlong into the ground.

He hit the ground and the wind was knocked out of him. He had to take a moment to regain his sight and saw two girls looking down at him.

"Nice job Viv," Veronica said.

The rock that he tripped over was actually Vivicka crouching down in a tight little ball. Annie finally realized what I-G-Y-B meant.

"I-got-your-back… How lame!" she said aloud.

"Hey, it ain't lame!" Veronica said, "It's a very ancient technique that we practiced hours and hours to perfect!"

"Yeah, that's right!" Vivicka added.

The guy slowly got up, rubbing both his stomach and the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

Veronica and Vivicka grinned and said in unison, "Super combo punch!"

Two fists made contact with his face.

"Viv, Ver! Stop it or so help me, I will ground you on Christmas Day," Annie said with an "Angelaesque"-type tone, after they had started to kick his shins, which was after they used his stomach as a punching bag and his head as a speed bag. Of course, before all that, they had dragged him into an alleyway.

The two young girls came to a sudden stop.

"Thanks Hansha. You could have said that a little sooner though," he said as sat on the ground, nursing his bruises.

"It was kind of fun to watch though," Annie said as she handed him a tissue for his bleeding nose.

"Stop talking to your boyfriend and let's get outta here before the police come," Veronica said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Boyfriend?! This weakling?" Annie yelled as she stood up and threw the tissues at him.

"I was joking," Veronica said sternly.

"I knew that," Annie said as she picked up the tissue that fell on top of his head.

"C'mon guys! Those coppers are gonna get us," Vivicka said.

"There's nobody coming!" Annie said, "No policeman is gonna come just because two little girls beat up a guy."

"Uh… guys?" the guy said as he held a tissue to his bleeding head.

"Whaddya mean nobody's coming?" Veronica said, "A good beating ends with a police chase! If no one ain't coming, it wasn't a good beating!"

"Maybe we should hit him some more," Vivicka suggested.

"I really think I need some medical attention…" he said.

Annie ignored him, "Viv, no and Ver, where in the world are you learning this stuff?"

Veronica shrugged, "We used to live on the streets y'know and we heard lots of stories from this one old guy who talked about beatings and health problems."

"I'm… gonna… faint…"

Thud

The three turned and saw that he wasn't kidding. He was actually unconscious.

"Run!" Veronica shouted.

Annie grabbed them before they could do anything.

"We're taking him to the hospital—wait," Annie said as a thought popped into her head.

This could work in his favor. His uncle was certainly a harsh man, but he did have a heart. He wouldn't turn away his dying nephew! Yes, his dying nephew.

"We're not taking him to the hospital," she said.

"We're not?" Vivicka asked, "So, we're running?"

Veronica smiled at that.

"No, we're going to take him to Poppop," she replied.

"Oh, so he can see what we did to his nephew and scare him straight," Veronica said, "I like it. Good thinking for once Annie."

Annie nodded. She didn't feel like arguing with Veronica's weird logic.

And so, Veronica and Vivicka carried him while they followed Annie back to the coffee stand.

"Mister! Mister!" Annie yelled out.

The uncle leaned over the counter and saw Annie coming towards him with her arms waving frantically.

"This is your nephew right?" she asked as Veronica and Vivicka dumped the guy at the foot of the stand.

The uncle stepped outside the stand, picked up the guy's head by the hair, and looked at his face.

"Yeah, that's him!" he said surprised, "What happened to him?"

"Uh… some thugs beat him up because…" Annie said, trying to think of something that would make the uncle take his nephew back.

"Because the thugs were badmouthing Poppop's coffee and he stood up to them!" Vivicka said.

Whew, good save Viv, she thought.

"What are you talking about? We did it!" Veronica said.

Annie stomped on her foot and Veronica let out a loud howl.

"What did she say?" asked the uncle.

"Uh… she didn't say anything," Annie said quickly, "The main thing is that your nephew is here and he needs your help."

"Why didn't you take him directly to the hospital? He's bleeding in more than one place and that's just on his head!" the uncle said as he took a towel and wrapped it around his nephew's head.

"Well, he said he wanted to see you before he... y'know…" Annie said.

"Before he died?" the uncle said as he gazed at his nephew.

Vivicka and Annie looked at each other and shrugged. It worked for them. As for Veronica, she was still howling.

The uncle hugged his nephew and said, "My boy, I'm sorry for yelling at you and your crazy dreams. You were always chasing those dreams! I was just worried about you, that's all. That's why I tried to stop you. I wanted to protect you from failure and heartbreak! But you know what? I should have said this to you when you were still alive…Your dead father would be proud of you."

He paused to sniff and Annie handed him a tissue.

"And I'm proud of you," he finished.

In the distance, a dog howled in sadness.

Well, in reality, the sound wasn't that far away and it was Veronica who was howling in pain instead of sadness. Annie and Vivicka finally realized that the nephew was bleeding rather profusely and decided to call the ambulance.

When the ambulance truck came, they put the nephew on a stretcher.

"Wow, this was a pretty good beating," one of the paramedics said.

"Yeah, thanks," Veronica said, who stopped howling when she saw the sirens of the truck appear.

The uncle held his nephew's hand. Annie, Vivicka, and Veronica stood around them.

"C'mon, let's load 'em on," said another paramedic.

"Wait…" said a weak voice.

"What? He's alive?" the uncle said, "Oh, I meant—Oh my lord, he's alive! Thank God!"

"You're proud of me?" he asked.

"Of course I am."

"Then, I can go back to working for you?"

"Of course you can! You can even extend the menu!"

"I-I'm so… happy," he said and he looked past his uncle to Annie, "And thanks… Annie."

They got into the ambulance truck and it sped off to the hospital.

Annie, Vivicka, and Veronica stood by the coffee stand.

"So, who's looking after the stand now?" Vivicka said as she took her huge cup of hot cocoa and sipped from it.

"I am!" said a voice.

The three turned around and a saw a young girl standing behind the counter.

Annie was about to ask who the girl was, but decided against it. She had a feeling that they shouldn't be near the coffee stand anymore; it might bring more problems that she didn't want to fix.

"Let's go guys," she said.

"Hey, I think there's a live concert in the middle of the town center starting soon," said the girl behind the counter, "You should check that out."

"Thanks," Annie said.

"Let's go there!" Vivicka said.

"Yeah! We might get free stuff!" Veronica added.

"Okay okay, but we're going to call Angela and Maddy to meet us there," Annie said.

She checked her phone and realized that it was put on silent mode. She had 20 missed calls. Most of the calls were from Maddy.

"Hey Mad!" Annie said, leaving a voice message, "Me and two buggers are watching a live concert at the town square right now. Meet us there and bring Ange! Please! I don't want to be alone with these thugs anymore! I'll tell you about it later. Seeya!"

She put her phone in her bag and looked at the two girls who were glaring at her.

"What? That's how me and Mad talk. We make it sound worse than it really is," Annie said, "Alright, we should go now."

They walked to the town square and saw an outdoor stage with drums and guitars set up. A lot of people were gathering around it. A man approached the microphone.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen! Our Winter Concert will begin shortly."

Annie heard her phone ringing and she picked it up immediately, "Mad! What's up?"

She nodded her head and hung up the phone.

"They're here already!"

"Yeah, they're over there," Veronica said, pointing to a tree with two figures standing by it.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Annie hissed.

"You didn't ask!" Veronica responded.

Vivicka ran over to the tree with Annie and Veronica trailing her.

"Angela! Maddy! We had the most awesome day!" she said excitedly.

"Oh dear, where did you get that bruise?" Angela asked worriedly as she inspected Vivicka's cheek.

"Hey guys! We went ice skating today but got kicked off because people kept yelling at us and then we beat up this guy," Veronica said as she finally got to the tree.

"Where did you take them? To the ghetto park?" Maddy said to Annie.

"No… it's a long story," Annie said as she sighed, for the fifth time.

"Tell me later. For now, let's go push through that crowd before it gets even bigger," Maddy said.

The five girls pushed through people and finally got to the front of the stage. The announcer man approached the microphone again.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now begin our glorious Winter Concert with the band that has topped the charts ten times in a row!"

With that, the audience cheered and applauded.

A few guys walked out to the guitars and drums. The guy who went up to the foremost guitar had bandages wrapped around his head and he looked like he was just released from a hospital.

"Isn't that?" Veronica said as she looked at Vivicka and Annie, trying to verify what she saw, "Isn't that that guy?"

"It-It is!" Vivicka said.

"Oh my gosh…" Annie said, "I can't believe I accused him of stealing…"

"Score! We beat up a famous dude," Veronica said as she high-fived Vivicka.

The nephew was tuning the guitar.

"Hey, you!" Annie shouted out to him. This was his crazy dream the uncle was talking about? Awesome!

The nephew looked up and saw her.

"Hey, Hansha! Hey, little thugs!" he said as he walked over to them.

"Y-you're a rockin' lead singer of a successful band?" Annie asked.

He laughed at her, "Well, how can I say this… yes."

Annie froze. She had accused him of stealing and got his uncle to fire him. Not only that, but her two little buggers had beaten him up and sent him to the hospital.

"An-chan?" Maddy said, "You know this guy?"

"Yeah, she knows me," he said as he extended his hand to Maddy, "I'm the lead's tuner, also the heir to Poppop's Coffee, the best coffee from a stand."

Maddy shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

Annie shook off her amazement and then asked, "Wait, you just said you were the lead singer."

"Oh, I was just messing with you to see if you believed me. I'm just a guitar tuner. The lead singer won't sing unless I fix his guitar."

All admiration she had for this guy had vanished into the wind. Well, she only liked him for that one brief moment that he was "lead singer". Now, she wanted to send him back to the hospital.

"Laters, Hansha. By the way, you owe me four bucks."

"Yeah, get off the stage so the real singers can come on and plus… I reunited you with your uncle and got your job back like I promised. I think four bucks covers that."

He smiled and walked back to the guitar stand where he set the newly tuned guitar down. He followed the other tuner guys backstage while the real band came out to a mass of hollering and cheering people.

"Eh, beating up anybody is good enough for me," Veronica said.

"Yeah, same here," Vivicka said.

Annie felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around. It was the uncle, or Poppop.

"Hey there! Thanks for everything you've done for us. I don't know how to repay you," he said to her.

"Oh, it was nothing. I caused it in the first place."

"Don't blame it on yourself. We were always fighting like that."

"May I ask why?"

"Sure. It was simple—I wanted him to take over the coffee stand business. He wanted to build a ramen stand instead. In the end, we compromised all thanks to you, Ms. Hansha."

Annie didn't know what to say. She saved the future of 'Poppop's Coffee'.

"Wow…"

"Wow indeed," he said, "Now let's enjoy the show."

The band began to play and the people began to sway. The night was young and the cold winter day wasn't so bad after all. She was glad she was dragged out today, even if it was with the two little street thugs.

Annie smiled contently to herself and decided that for tomorrow, she was staying home with a nice, warm cup of sweet hot chocolate.

But, nothing, and she stressed nothing, ever goes as planned.

The End