000

Pajamaless Party

Small changes… A crucial meeting—five years earlier—isn't exactly everyone's idea of 'subtle'.

Oops…?

000

"Can I keep it?"

The awkward silence that should follow such a statement was mercifully broken by the sound of waves and distant seagulls.

"Can I keep it? Pretty pleeeeease?" I asked again, shuffling my feet on the soft sand and hugging a small boy tightly. He didn't seem to mind.

"Ann, dear sister… Luffy's not an it." Ace rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Or a stray."

"Oh. Can I keep him then?" I amended.

"That's better, but I have the impression you still don't get it…" His left eye flickered in mounting irritation.

"But brother, look at his adorable face! And he loves my hugs." I turned to the boy in question. "Don't you, Fluffy?"

"…fluffy," My brother muttered, horrified.

"Yup, Annie is the best!" The incarnation of cuteness beamed.

Ace's scowl worsened even more. "That doesn't count." He shot me a withering glare, "You bribed him with food."

Grinning unrepentantly, I declared, "Whatever works!"

Little Bro sweat dropped. "What about Miss Makino?"

I looked to the rocks, where the woman was still sitting, along with an amused Sabo. "Well, she can come live with us too! The more the merrier."

"Today is not your birthday, Ann."

"Oh." I deflated, "Ok." An idea soon brightened my mood, though. "We are so getting a kitty for my birthday present!"

At that moment, brother's breath hitched. He shivered slightly and took a step back. "I'm not sure why, but that sounded a lot more ominous than it should."

Our small party was interrupted by a sudden downpour, and we retreated to the bar.

Luffy shook his head, much like a dog trying to dry itself. He was the cutest kid ever. So huggable and adorable and and and—

"Annie, your cake is the best in the entire world!"

"You can call me big sister!" I rubbed a towel on his scalp as Makino went to get a change of clothes for Luffy.

"But Annie is Annie!"

I was completely besotted.

…to the annoyance of a certain twin, who was sulking in a corner–I got the impression he was mumbling something along the lines of, "I helped too," but I wasn't really sure. Sabo was trying (and failing miserably) to contain his laughter.

At that moment, Makino came back. "I brought some of the clothes I've outgrown, so please help yourselves!"

I thanked her and took the bundle of clothes, heading towards the dripping wet figure of Ace. "Bro, you have to dry yourself."

He mumbled again, something that sounded like, "don't wanna," but a sneeze cut off whatever else he was going to say. I sighed and started unbuttoning his shirt.

"I'm not a baby!" He flushed, discreetly glancing at Makino.

My eyes widened as I gawked at him. An image of Ace, unsteady on his feet, superimposed with the present; a six year old experiencing his first crush. "Yeah, you really aren't."

I probably had a strange expressionon my face. He kept staring at me with puzzled confusion.

The storm raged on, so we voted on staying at the village until it stopped. As dinner time approached, I decided to thank Makino by cooking. Luffy's excitement at the idea of helping prepare the food was adorable…

"First of all, wash your hands!" I instructed the three boys. After they had cleaned properly, I continued, "I do hope everybody likes chicken soup." It was actually a variation of Congee, but I was pretty sure they didn't have it in Dawn Island. No one disagreed, so I started listing off the ingredients, "Chicken, potatoes, carrots, leek, salt and rice. An excellent dish to prevent colds!"

"Now, gather a soup pot, ladle, spatula, cutting board and vegetable peeler," I said, washing the last vegetables. "Ace, get a stool and put it right here," I motioned to a spot near the counter. "Hm, the chicken's still whole… Sabo, get the chef knife and the cleaver."

"The what?"

"The long pointy knife is a chef knife. A cleaver is the massive rectangular blade."

"Got it," he said, an eerily happy glint in his face.

"No playing with it, you hear me?" I ordered in a somewhat stern voice. "Lulu, you're going to peel the veggies."

He made a face, "But I don't like veggies. They're yucky."

"Luffy precious, have you ever eaten meat without salt?"

"Hm, it tastes boring," he frowned, confused by the question.

"Now, lick this," I handed him a pinch of salt in a small spoon.

"Ew!"

"Veggies are like salt: they don't really taste good by themselves, but if you add meat, the food will taste even better than meat alone!"

"Ah, I get it!" He beamed.

Sabo sweat dropped. Ace just looked resigned to his fate.

"Braised chicken should be done a bit slower. But since this is soup, that's not a problem." I removed the golden chicken pieces and set them aside in a plate. "Now, we sauté the chiffonade leek.

"Lulu, do you want to add the veggies later on?"

The small boy nodded and climbed the stool. He carefully poured the diced vegetables on the pot.

"Sabo, can you get me the rice?" I poured the pre-cooked rice and a spoonful of salt. A hand approached the chicken… "No, Ace! It's still kinda raw inside. Besides, I have to put it back in the pot." I poured some boiling water, covered the pot with the lid and got off the stool.

A loud growl echoed in the kitchen, "Erm, it should be ready in half an hour."

Makino sighed happily, "That was really good. I'd never thought to add rice to the soup before. Where did you get the idea, Ann?"

"That was one of mommy's recipes," I replied wistfully. 'Damn, now I'm feeling all nostalgic.'

The woman sensed my mood and changed subjects, "Say, would you like to have a slumber party? We have an inn attached to the bar, but…"

Luffy's eyes widened in childish glee, "What's a slumber party?"

"We all sleep in duvets together, play and talk and do cool stuff."

It was a perfect chance to let my boys have a taste of what a normal childhood was like!

'…my boys?'

I looked at Sabo's wondering expression; then, at Ace's disguised interest. Even Luffy, as he bounced around excitedly.

"So I did get my wish, after all. Mom..."

The contented smile fell before it could really form, 'How is that fair? I even went and died before giving you any grandchildren…'

All the feelings I thought I'd lost, all the things I cowardly buried—

Tears and snot and a deep sense of loss took over my face, and I choked.

There wasn't a piano to serve as refuge.

Warmth enveloped me. Mom, is that you?

Something soft wiped the tears from my puffy eyes. In front of me, Ace was holding a small handkerchief. He worriedly looked past me, so I turned and saw dark hair and distraught brown eyes.

The face was all wrong.

I swallowed the tears before they could overwhelm me again—it wouldn't do to ruin Sabo's birthday even more.

Makino awkwardly patted my back, and I noticed for the first time how young she really was. She couldn't be older than the age I was when—

'No, I'm not even going there.'

"So, are you feeling comfy in there?" Sabo asked slyly.

"Wha—"

I heard a small cough and looked down, only to jump in mortification.

"Annie looks like a tomato!" Luffy quipped.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Miss Makino!" I stammered and bowed.

The woman only smiled, eyes crinkling in amusement, "Well, you're very light, so it was no problem. It was like holding a life-sized doll."

"A very snotty one!" Was Sabo's helpful comment.

"Y-you! Come back here, you insufferable cretin!" I shouted after Sabo's retreating back.

"Stupid older sister," Ace huffed. "Here I was, worrying about nothing."

Something poked him. "Hey, Acey?"

"What's it, Luffy?"

"What's a cretin?"

Oh, oops. Damn. How do I explain that to a little kid? I shot an apologetic look at Ace.

Wait, he is getting away!

Sabo frantically examined his surroundings, futilely trying to find an escape route.

"It's useless. Surrender to your fate," I whispered sinisterly.

He stepped back, until he touched the wall. The boy braced himself for impact, only for…

"Thank you." I hugged him.

"You're welcome."

In the end, we were too tired to play the card games I had packed. So, the five of us (Makino had enough common sense not to let four kids alone in a bar) settled down on the futon Makino had extended on the floor and huddled together.

I got the distinct impression we were forgetting something…

Something really important.

What could it be…

"AH!" My loud exclamation violently tore the others from dreamland.

"What now, you screechy witch?"

Not bothering to respond, I ran to the counter, turned on the lights and grabbed my bag. I rummaged through it and removed a small box.

"Happy birthday, Sabo!"

As Sabo started opening his gift, Ace approached me and whispered angrily, "You threatened me to keep it secret only to almost forget the most important part!"

Completely ignoring my brother, I asked, "So, do you like it?"

Our dear birthday boy smiled widely, a very familiar pair of goggles in his hands, "Yeah, it's awesome!"

"Last month, Ann badgered me to buy it. She was all, 'Acey, I'll pay you back later!'" Ace glared at me, "Obviously, she didn't."

"Well, Sabo's happy, so all's good, right?"

Ace's expression softened, "Yeah, it is."

The morning after the storm, there wasn't a cloud as far as the eye could see. That was reason enough to postpone our return once more.

"Acey, do you like playing in the mud?" I asked. From my seat, I could see Luffy attempting to sneak a large ham from the kitchen as Makino pretended she didn't notice him.

"I guess," he replied in between bites. Granted, most of those times involved either rolling around in fights or the times I had to improvise a writing board to teach him something that our books didn't cover—as few as those things were, considering the size of our library.

"I never got around to teaching you anything artistic, because we lacked the materials. Sand is an excellent way to stimulate creativity. Also, it's very fun!" I punched the air in the general direction of the beach.

"Sis, you're pointing to the opposite direction."

"…I knew that."

What was to be a single afternoon, somehow, became a slumber party that lasted an entire week; our wish to go back had waned with the clouds.

Unlike Ace (and Sabo, to a lesser degree), I had no shame in admitting my reluctance to leave was due to a certain little boy.

From the safe distance of my favorite rock, I was watching the boys' attempts at fishing. Ace was fairly competent, but even a master fisherman would be thwarted by Luffy's enthusiastic(ally loud) cheers. The fish were—quite justifiably—afraid of their fate and did not dare approach that area.

"You know, Luffy's been alone for quite some time." Makino muttered.

"Huh?" Was my intelligent response.

"This is a small village, so there aren't any children near his age, me and the mayor are the only ones who look after him."

I frowned, "Why is that?"

Makino sighed. "One year ago, Luffy's grandfather came here and asked the mayor to look after him." She lowered her voice, as if telling a secret, "I think his parents are dead."

'It's not like Garp can raise children in the headquarters…'

She startled. "How did you know his name?"

"Er, did I say that out loud?"

From her unimpressed stare, I could safely assume that yes, Makino had heard it clearly.

'Blabbermouth, thy name is Ann.'

Should I tell the truth? Actually, should I even know the truth?

Bullshitting it was.

That's how I acquired a younger cousin, son of my dear late aunt, Portgas D. Ruby.

'At this rate, I'll spew enough bullshit to fertilize the entire world.'

Pajamaless Party end_

So much drama!

Still, the angst took less than 10% of the chapter. And no more Angsty!Ann for a loooong while. Because as dark as the title is… the beginning is very light hearted.

Ace, a six year old, had to explain ableism and context to a toddler by himself.

We are almost at the beginning of the manga. Which means… Shanks!