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Ace gazed at his sister. She had actually bloomed over the past eight months. Especially now and he couldn't help but chuckle. He knew she had planned something special for the dance contest. She was good, though so far she had hid how good she was. It would be so fun to see her in the competition and to see how Izo, Thatch and Haruta would react. After all, the three of them shared the top three in the three categories. Best dancing group, best dancing commander and best individual dancer.
"What's up?" Thatch asked Ace.
"Uh, nothing. Just thinking of something from my childhood," he lied flawless.
"Tell," Haruta said.
"It was just the time where Ann was kicking ass, showing the scumbags she wasn't a weak and innocent girl," he said and chuckled at that memory.
"How old was she and what scumbags are we talking about?" Thatch asked, dreading the answer.
"I think we were 11 or so. The scumbags were the outcast and outlaws of Goa Kingdom, some rapist, though we didn't know then, murderer and thieves," Ace shrugged.
"Wait what? You were up against rapists, murderer and thieves at the age of 11?" Haruta yelled shocked, making all look at the trio.
Ace tilted his head. "Well, actually from the age of 5, but yeah. Is that really bad?"
"That's definitely not normal. You should be playing around and be in school at that age. Not fighting scumbags," Thatch said.
Ace shrugged. "It was how it was. After all, we did live with mountain bandits," he said.
Thatch and Haruta stared at the teen with disbelief and slight pity. Ace didn't notice that at all. He thought it was normal to some degree and had shrugged it off. It was more what he had heard about his father that still haunted him in his sleep.
"You got to be kidding right? That's definitely not normal," Thatch said.
"So? We did survive and it made us stronger," Ace said, before getting a fit.
Thatch shook his head. Definitely not normal and he felt sorry for Ace and Ann. He wondered just how harsh their life had been. Living with mountain bandits and fighting scumbags had been a part of their life since they were kids. That was just so sick.
-x-
Ann was standing at the railing, staring at the sea. Suddenly someone hugged her gently from behind and she tilted her head to see Haruta. She wondered what this was about, as he mumbled I'm so sorry. As he let go, she turned to him, eyebrows raised.
"What are you sorry about?" she asked.
"That you had to grow up with bandits and fight scumbags," he said.
She sighed and let a hand go through her strawberry-blond hair. So Ace had let some story of their childhood slip? That idiot.
"Don't be, Haruta. It's in the past and I've become stronger. Those scumbags were nothing against the animals of the mountain. They were easily twice as big as normal animals," she said.
He blinked a few times. "EH?"
She chuckled. "I'm fine and I'm stronger thanks to the hard life we had as kids. Besides, we are D.'s and Jiji once told us that D.'s are unusual and stronger than the average person. Seeing how much energy and the strength we had, it did made sense that we lived in such rough environment," she said.
He shook his head. "You are not normal," he mumbled.
She chuckled and looked back at the sea. "What is normal anyway?" she whispered.
Haruta looked at her, but she was now lost in thoughts. Her face looked distant and kind of sad. He just wanted her to be happy. Suddenly her face lit up and she was smiling, as if she remembered some happy moments. The smile suited her.
"Though our life was hard, we have a lot of happy memories. And I always had Ace at my side," she said.
"You two really seem to be close. Well, growing up together in harsh environments will get people close or kill them," Haruta said.
She smiled. "Yeah."
-x-
Ace looked at his dancing team. He was really happy; though he was sure the competition was hard. He was up against Ann and he knew that Haruta, Izo and Thatch were hard competition too. He hadn't told his group about Ann. It would be a big surprise, something he really looked forward to.
"You're really great," Ace said.
"Thanks, Ace. It's kind of weird to not be in charge. Marco isn't much of a dancer, so he let us decide the choreography and song."
"Well, I do have some experience with dancing and I always wanted to see if I could come up with some moves," Ace grinned.
"I do like our choreography. It's energetic and good."
Ace grinned. This would be so much fun, though he still had to think of his own dance. Ann would probably run with the first place there, since she was a great dancer, but he wanted to be in the top five himself. To prove to Ann he still had it in him.
"Well, that's enough for today. Tomorrow we'll practice one last time. I don't want you to dance the day before the competition," Ace said.
They all nodded and left. Ace stayed and sighed. So far he hadn't come up with a dance for himself or the song. He had to tell Haruta tomorrow what song he had chosen for the group and for himself. If only he could get a tip from Ann, but she wouldn't do so. Suddenly he smirked, having thought of the best song to dance to and he used the remaining time to practice.
-x-
Ann had dismissed her dance group too and was now helping Marco with the last part. She was amazed that he had learnt so fast, but she understood his determination. After all, seeing how Izo, Thatch and Haruta would react to him dancing so much better and to see the first division be this good, it was worth the hard work.
"You're a good dancer, Marco-kun. I'm sure all, but the two of us and Ace will be shocked," Ann said, as they finished for today.
"Ace will know too, yoi?" he asked.
"He knows how good I am and so he expects me to change your luck and give a great show," she said.
"Makes sense, yoi," he said after a while.
"A shame you don't like dancing. I would love to teach you more, even after the competition the day after tomorrow," she said.
"Who said I don't like dancing, yoi?"
"You do?"
"Maybe, yoi."
"Come on Marco-kun. I won't tell anyone," she pleaded.
"I like dancing when you teach me, yoi."
She blushed at his words. "I … I love teaching you. I mean … I just love dancing and teaching others to dance too," she said, her face completely red.
He chuckled. "Then I will wait for our next lesson, yoi," he said and left.
Red from embarrassment, Ann left the dance hall and hurried back to her room. Why was Marco such an idiot? They had a great time and she loved him as a brother and now he gave her that kind of compliments. She knew he always had refused to dance with Izo or any other, so why didn't he mind dancing with her? She buried her face into her pillow and groaned. Idiotic commander, she thought.
-x-
Ann was still annoyed, as she woke up the next morning. Marco's words had haunted her in her dreams and she didn't like it. Maybe she should talk to Whitebeard about it? She was sure she was not in love with him or so, hell when she thought about him, she thought about what a cool, strong and good brother he was. So why did his words haunt her?
Ace noticed his sister's bad mood right away and made sure no one bothered her. He knew what it was like to be the one making her blow up, even though you weren't the one she was angry at in the first place. She gave her brother a small and weak smile, eating her breakfast in a hurry and went to the office of Whitebeard.
Thatch: I thought you said fluff, Didi
Marco: How typical, yoi.
Ace: I wouldn't allow it.
Me: Huh? Jeez, you guys are so stupid sometimes. *rolls eyes*
Izo: Don't mind them, Didi. They just read and don't think.
Marco: OI!
Thatch: What do you mean?
Me: Just keep reading the story.
Haruta: If you can't guess it, you have to read it. Can you readers see where she's going?
