[ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝔼𝕝𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟]
𝕾𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖎𝖙 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖔𝖘. 𝖂𝖊 𝖈𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖎𝖙 𝕱𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖑𝖞.
Some call it Chaos. We call it Family.
X
It was when she turned seventeen that she had set sail. Portgas D. Ann's dream is to build a name for herself. She wants to be recorded in history as a great pirate on her own merits. She doesn't want to only be known as the daughter of the pirate king, and she knows well that this secret won't stay a secret for long. The world will find out, but by then she wants everyone to think that "Portgas D. Ann just happens to be Gold Roger's daughter" instead of "Gold Roger's daughter, Portgas D. Ann". She's not sure that people will understand the reasoning for her goal, but that doesn't matter as long as her family did. Sabrina understood her... Luna did too...
The topic of their older sister had been a taboo at the beginning. Ann felt betrayed. Her older sister betrayed her. How could she do that? When Luna had told them she is joining the Navy, Ann had gotten angry and shouted at her. Sabrina had asked if it was a joke. Ann wished it was, but Luna looked so serious and outright told them it's the truth.
Ann had punched her. Luna didn't dodge it. And it didn't hurt her, of course it didn't, Luna is made out of rubber. But it didn't change the fact that Ann punched her big sister, the sister that she never went against seriously. Sabrina caught Ann before she went for another punch, looking at Luna with a heart-breaking expression.
Luna had just looked at them with a determined look, "I hope we won't meet for a long time."
It hurt. Because from her voice, it seems like she was not lying, because Luna sucks at lying.
"But before I go, I have one favour of you two. The next time we meet, you two have to be stronger than me. Get stronger, and even when you feel like you're strong enough, remember you are not, and you need to get even more stronger. You need to be strong enough to defeat me." She took in a deep breath and then declared, "I'll be the strongest!"
Luna had sent them a small smile, then turns around to leave, with her leaving, they heard her whispered "Good luck on achieving your dreams. Goodbye, Fireworks. Goodbye Star. I'll miss you both."
Ann and Sabrina had spent that night crying. Theirs older sister had left them not for her dreams, but for her to be a marine.
Why marine out of all things?
But they will do as she asks them to do, because even on opposites sides, Luna is still their sister and her asking them to get stronger was for their own good.
Sabrina told her Ann that Luna probably asked them to get stronger than her because she wouldn't like to be one who caught them. Ann agreed, because Luna would always look out for them.
So now, on with her journey. Ann had her last stop made at Louge Town after gathering a few members before she left to the Grandline. And it was then, that she ran into the love of her life.
The moment Ann saw Smoker, she could see that he recognized her, from what she is not sure (It was later she found out that when she set out, she had not gotten a bounty, she assumed that's because her picture hasn't been taken, but description of her looks was given as to not touch her. She only found out about this too late.) But all Ann could focus on was about how hot he looked.
Without even thinking, Ann blurted out, "You're hot. Be my boyfriend."
It was at that very first day that she met him, that Ann found out that Smoker looked good when blushing.
He had rejected her, of course he had. Not only was she a pirate (even if under the protection of the government) but also only seventeen years old. Smoker said it won't work out with them on opposite sides and him being too old for her.
She had shrugged it off, "First, I don't care if you're a marine. Second, I'm old enough to be with who I want, and besides, I consent to it."
Her Luna-nee-chan would be so proud of her. She had after all told her multiple times to follow her heart.
"No."
His answer did not deter her.
"I don't care about your opinion. I know you're attracted to me. So am I to you. So, let's date. It doesn't work out, we end it. If we do work out and we come to love each, then we stay together."
His defeated sigh made her grin.
X
Ann thought that her relationship with a marine was something only she would do. But when she joined the Whitebeard pirates, it become apparent that no, she wasn't the only one. Because apparently, the flaming hen, first commander of their crew, Marco, was in a relationship with a marine. This not everyone knew about.
The only ones who knew were the other commanders and their captain, and the only reason that Ann found out was when Haruta and Thatch opened a letter addressed to her from Smoker. Seeing its content, and who it was from, Ann got scared that her new family would reject her.
The pair calmed her down, explaining to her that Marco also had a marine lover, so if they accepted his relationship, so will they accept hers. Ann had been curious of who it was, but Thatch told her that they all had sworn not to spill who it was, and maybe Ann will find out over time.
Ann had accepted their answer, she shrugged, she knew when not to push for answers.
X
Shanks visiting her was a surprise to her and to the Whitebeards. The only ones present on deck were the captain and the commanders.
When he saw her, he grinned brightly at her and spoke, "Portgas D. Ann. Or FireFist Ann. Whichever you like." He had shrugged, "It is nice to officially meet you."
The commanders tensed. How did Shanks recognize Ann? She had not gotten a bounty poster of her face until now. Anything she had done that caused a commotion would be in the newspapers, but until now, the marines keep saying that they still haven't gotten any pictures taken of her.
To the shock of the Whitebeard pirates, Ann grinned brightly at Shanks and with a yell of his name, she rushed forwards to hug him. Shanks let out a loud laugh and hugged her. He was relieved that she wasn't like Luna and didn't carry him, he didn't want to be embarrassed in front of a fellow Emperor. Unfortunately, Lucky Roo didn't feel the same thing, as he walked forwards and patted Shanks while saying, "Ya ain't like your big sister, sadly. When she saw Shanks for the first time after ten years, she lifted him up."
Ann tensed, then relaxed, "Nee-chan did? Wait, did Nee-chan visits you guys?" She was curious, but sad. Luna met the red-haired pirates but didn't check on them. It's been seven years, and not once had Luna called them or wrote them a letter.
Shanks sent the girl in his hold a smile, "She visited us before she left. Gave back the hat and all."
"She gave it back?" Ann whispered, hurt evident in her tone.
"Yeah, she said to keep hold of it since she didn't set to become a pirate."
Ann's eyes were tearing up, usually she's the one who lets out her frustration through displays of anger, but this is her sister they're talking about, and she misses her sister.
The Whitebeards didn't understand the whole conversation, all they understood that Ann had an older sister that Shanks seemed to know, and that she was gone. But how gone? Gone as in... dead? They were scared to ask.
"I miss her... Sabrina misses her... Dadan and Makino too." Ann said, voice low, "She broke your promise. She broke mom's promise. She was going to become a pirate, to fulfil her dream, but she broke that. How can she break my mom's promise of fulfilling her dream!" As she went on, Ann's voice got louder and louder. "She was supposed to become a pirate! She was supposed to become the pirate king! So why? Why did she have to leave us?"
Ann started sobbing into Shanks' hold. She could feel comfortable in his hug, but nothing felt as comforting as her sister's hug. Whenever Luna hugged her, Ann would always feel all her worries melt away. Ann knows Sabrina also felt the same. She wants Luna to be here with her right now. She wants Luna to hug her and tell her stories that Rouge told her when she was still alive. Ann wanted all of that, but Luna had left her. Left them.
(Shanks had smiled gently at the girl, who was his captain's child. Ann didn't know it seems. That yes, Luna had promised Lady Rouge to fulfil her dream, but the promise that came before that was to take care of Ann. Luna had taken that promise of more importance than the promise regarding her dream. Luna didn't mean to break the second promise, she just put the first as priority, and when her time as a marine is finished, she will fulfil her second promise.)
X
"Dadan kept saying that nee-chan spoiled us," Ann mumbled one day. She was sitting with Thatch, Haruta, Izou and Marco on deck near their captain. They had been each talking about their families, when it became Ann's turn. She had turned quiet, and the others were ready to change the subject, not wanting to force the girl to say anything when she suddenly spoke.
"How so?" Haruta asked, "Did she spend so much on you and Sabrina?"
Ann sent her a grin and shook her head, "Nah, she just always paid attention to us no matter what."
Marco raised an eyebrow, "How is that considered spoiling?"
Ann smiled softly when remembering her childhood, and the others could help but feel curious about the older sister. "Nee-chan... Nee-chan was, and still is, the most important person for us... She was the one who raised me and Sabrina. So having her attention was really nice, and no matter what she had to do or was doing, she would pay attention to us..."
"Can you tell us more about her?" Izou treaded cautiously, afraid of a negative reaction, only for the worry to be for nothing, because Ann just grinned brightly at them all, "Of course! What do you wanna know?"
Thatch took the chance to ask first, "You said she raised you, right? How much older was she?"
Ann didn't pay attention to the past tense, "Nee-chan is around seven years older than us."
"Then she would have been seven when she started taking care of you-yoi," Marco frowned, "Was it wise for her child to raise a baby?"
Ann wasn't offended, she actually laughed, "Well, we were handed to Dadan, our foster mother, but she mostly just provided shelter for us, because she doesn't know how to handle kids. Makino, she was the one who used to take care of Nee-chan before going to Dadan, taught both Dadan and Nee-chan as much as she can because our grandfather didn't want us to stay with Makino."
"Why not?" Haruta asked.
"Nee-chan had wanted to become a pirate," Ann said, "The old man was against it, and thought that Nee-chan was influenced when staying with Makino, so he dropped us at Dadan's, which is a dumb move. How did he want us to stop dreaming of becoming pirates when he gave us to bandits?"
"He gave you to bandits!?" Izou hissed in anger, "He gave kids to bandits!?"
Ann nodded in understanding at Izou, "I can understand your frustration, but to be honest, living with the bandits wasn't the worst that could have happened. Dadan ended up warming to us in the end."
"What about Sabrina?" Thatch asked, "You said your grandpa dropped you and your big sister in Dadan's care. What about Sabrina? Where was she?"
"Sabrina was with her biological family at that time. It was when she was four that she managed to run away, and Nee-chan rescued her from some thieves and ended up adopting her." Ann answered.
"So, you're not related to each other?" Thatch continued.
Ann blinked slowly at the cook, "Nah, we aren't related by blood. But that doesn't change the fact that she's my little sister. It's kinda like how it's with you guys."
The commanders grinned at the fire devil fruit user. Before the girl sat up straight with a serious look, "Actually, speaking of blood, I want to inform you guys something..."
This earned concerned looks. Ann looked up at her captain, who had been listening to the question-and-answer session between his sons and daughters, "I already told this to Oyaji before I accepted the position of the second division Commander."
Whitebeard smiled at his daughter in encouragement. Ann smiled back, then turned her gaze back to the four commanders. "I wanted to tell you guys something, it's going to come out to the world soon, but I would like to tell you guys myself... I'll tell the others soon, but I want you to be the first people here to know about this."
Izou smiled gently at Ann, and laid a hand on her shoulder, "Whatever it is you want to say is your secret, you are the one who decided who you want to tell. If you want to tell others before us, we will be fine with it, and if you want to tell us before others, they should also be fine with it. It's your secret to share when you are comfortable."
Ann sent them a shaky smile, "Thank you, Izou."
Izou patted Ann on the shoulder, and went to release her, but Ann took her hands into her own. Izou let Ann hold her hands, knowing that Ann would need some comfort right now.
Ann took in a deep breath, then blurted out "My real name is Gol D. Ann! Roger is my biological father!"
It had taken them a few moments to digest what Ann had just said, before Marco ended up sighing, "You got your recklessness from him-yoi."
Ann huffed, pouting at that, "Nu-uh, pretty sure my recklessness was taught by Nee-chan."
"Oh dear," Izou muttered, "And your Nee-chan? Did she get that from Roger-san?"
Ann tilted her head in confusion, "Why would she get that from him? I mean sure she looked up to him and all of that, but Nee-chan has been reckless since before she knew about Dad."
"So, your sister looked up to your father," Haruta wondered, "How was her personality?"
"According to Mom's journals and Shanks, Nee-chan was like dad."
"A second Roger? That must be terrifying." Whitebeard chuckled, "Did she get to learn anything from him?"
"She learned about him from Shanks and Mom, but in Mom's journal she said that Nee-chan was the way she was from the beginning, she didn't learn anything from dad."
"Speaking of your dad, you must have suffered when you were a kid cuz of Roger-san's image," Thatch said, but Ann shrugged.
"Nah, didn't really suffer. Sure, had it not been for Nee-chan, I might have hated him and believed everything about him being a Devil and me being a Devil's child, but Nee-chan never allowed that to happen. She would tell me stories about Dad and I would read Mom's journals, since they contained most of Dad's adventures, so I got to know from a young age that Dad isn't the Devil he was said to be."
"I'm thankful that your sister was the one that raised you," Whitebeard said, "She did a great job."
Ann flushed, smiling at her Oyaji's words, "Nee-chan really was the best. She did so much for us when she didn't need to. She took me and Sabrina in and raised us, she didn't have to yet she still did it."
"What do you mean took you in?" Haruta asked, "I get Sabrina, but why you? She's your sister after all."
Ann frowned in confusion, "She's my sister because she took me in."
Marco let out a small "Oh". "She's not your sister by blood, is she-yoi?"
Ann's eyes widened, "Oh! Did I not make that clear? No, Nee-chan is my adoptive sister."
"Oh my god," Haruta gasped, "You're telling us that your sister took you in and raised you when she was kid even when you're not related to each other?"
"Is your sister a saint? Are you sure she's like Roger-san?" Thatch laughed.
"Nee-chan is no saint," Ann laughed.
"Why did she take you in?" Izou asked.
"Mom was an older sister figure to her, so when Mom died after she gave birth to me, Nee-chan raised me."
"A family based on bonds instead of family-yoi," Marco smiled, "Your sister would fit among us."
The smile that grew on Ann's face was bittersweet, "She would, wouldn't she?"
X
Ann was going through the old newspapers containing news regarding Luna. She was reading the one about the fight with the former warlord Crocodile. Smoker had told her everything when that fight was done for and Ann paid attention to everything her boyfriend told her, observing any information about her big sister.
Smoker had noticed the adoration she held for Luna, and while Ann never told him the truth regarding her relationship, Smoker had muttered "Of course, with a personality like hers, even pirates admire her." and started to tell her anything about Luna that he knows. He had told her about how the rubber girl annoys him. How she calls him "Smokey". Even when he tries to sound annoyed, Ann could see how much he cares for her sister.
"Hey Ann! Whatcha doing?" Thatch plopped besides her and peered over her shoulder to see what she's reading, "Why are you reading this old newspaper?"
"I wanna read about Luna," Ann replied nonchalantly, flipping the page to continue her task.
"Why read when you can ask Marco about her?" The cook asked, sounding confused.
Ann frowned in confusion, "Why should I ask Marco about her?"
"Ask me about who-yoi?" Came Marco's voice as he went and also plopped himself on her other side.
"About Fenrir," Both Marco and Ann frowned at the title, the former because he knew that title made his girlfriend uncomfortable and the later because she hated that her big sister got that title because of her loyalty towards the world government.
"Again, why should I ask Marco about her?"
"Oh, don't you know?" Thatch smirked, "Marco knows Luna very well."
Ann didn't catch the teasing in his tone, but Marco spoke before Thatch said anything else. "We're on friendly terms-yoi."
Ann frowned, but still nodded. She thought Luna stayed away from her because they're on opposing sides, but that doesn't seem to be case if Luna is friends with a pirate. Can't she also contact her? Does Luna hate them now? Ann knew that it's nearly impossible to happen, her big sister loves them, she always did... But what if things had changed over the years?
"Anyways," Marco started, "Why do you want to know about her-yoi?"
"I-" Ann hesitated, thinking about it. She probable shouldn't mention what her relationship to Luna is. No one knew about it, if Smoker, who was Luna's friend and co-worker didn't about Ann being Luna's sister, then Marco wouldn't know too. And she shouldn't go spreading around her connection to the Fenrir, this could put her big sister into a huge problem, so she just settled with a, "I- I met her once, I think."
Marco raised an eyebrow, "You think?"
Ann gulped, "Yeah, I'm not sure."
"What do you mean?" Thatch asked.
Ann looked down at the newspaper, not wanting to look into the eyes of her ship brothers at the moment, "I met a Luna. A Luna that had a dream of becoming a pirate. So, it's hard to believe that the same girl I met became a dog for the government. It's hard to imagine the Luna I know being a marine."
X
Ann entered a café and looked around. She and Sabrina agreed to meet here, so she was searching for her sister. The café was actually empty except for the few workers and a woman sitting in the corner.
The woman had blond hair and is wearing a black top hat, Ann knew that it's her sister. Really, who wears a top-hat these days except those nobles. Sabrina can deny it all she wants, but she still has the fashion style of the nobles, even though she prefers the male's clothes over the females. She could still remember Sabrina's lecture on how the male's clothes being more practical for fighting compared to the females. Not like Ann disagrees.
Walking towards the female, she settled across the blond. Sabrina was engrossed in a book, and didn't look up to greet her, only said "Sorry, that seat is taken. I'm waiting for my sister."
Ann let out a laugh and that's when Sabrina looked up. When her sister looked at her, a smile broke across her face, "Ann!"
Ann smiled back at her younger sister, "Hey, Sabrina."
Putting her book down, she got up and rushed to hug Ann. Sabrina threw herself on Ann, and the latter was glad that the café was empty so there were no complaints.
"How has things been?" The blond asked, her head on her sister's shoulder.
Ann wrapped her arms around the other, "Nothing changed since the last time we called."
Sabrina let go and Ann followed suit, so she was able to get up and settle back into her seat. She raised her hand and called for a waiter. Once the waiter came, the took their orders, and when the waiter left to get the order ready, Sabrina turned to her older sister with a faux innocent smile.
"Oh really? Well, a certain cook had seemed to get my number recently and we talked a bit. Great guy by the way, I wanna meet Thatch, I wonder what pranks we can do. Anyways, what I wanted to say. You were brought up when we were talking and I learned an interesting 'something'."
Sabrina kept an arm on the table and placed her chin on her closed fist, smile still 'innocent' but eyes were filled with mischief. "Something about a boyfriend?"
Ann groaned, face flushing. She might be a straightforward person, and blunt, but she kept Smoker a secret from Sabrina for a reason. Sabrina teases a lot.
"So?" Sabrina raised an eyebrow, dropping the innocent smile for an excited grin, "I wanna hear about him. Spill!"
X
It was a normal day. Ann had noted to herself. Nothing was out of the usual. Not really. The only thing that was missing was Marco, Thatch and Izou. Marco had gone to visit his lover, and Thatch had somehow convinced Izou that they should follow. They hadn't been away for long, just a week, apparently his lover was in the first have of the Grandline, so it would take a while to reach her. The other commanders told Ann that usually both Marco and his lover would meet somewhere not far as to not make Marco's pileup more in his absence and so that the marine won't have to miss much of her work. He would visit his girlfriend and stay over for a few days, but since the marine is currently somewhere in Paradise, it would take 3 to 4 days to reach, so Marco would only be with his significant other for a shorter time.
Ann is annoyed at having to only refer to Marco's lover by such titles, can't she just get a name as to not use so many titles? But she knew that this is Marco's privacy here, and sure it hurts her that she's the only commander not to know, but from what Ann heard, the others found out due to an incident, that the only one who Marco actually told was Oyaji. So, Ann was okay with waiting, she might not be the most patient, but she won't push.
Ann laid down on Haruta's bed. She and the other female commander wanted to spend some time together, have a girls' night as some of their crewmates would call it, sadly Izou was going to miss this one. But 12th division commander had paperwork to finish. That's what lead to Ann waiting on her crew sister to finish her work while Haruta was telling her about the newest gossip going around the Moby Dick. Only for Haruta's rambling to be interrupted by knocking on the door.
Nothing much was thought by the knocking, so Haruta called out a "Come in!" What surprised them was Izou, "Oh! Izou! Did you just get back?"
Izou nodded at the pair with a soft smile, "We're all back. And before you ask, I'll tell you about her at a later time. The moment we got back Marco said to gather the commanders and meet at the meeting room with Oyaji."
Haruta and Ann exchanged confused looks, and when they look at their sister with a questioning look, Izou shrugged helplessly, "I have no idea what it's about."
As there is no use of questioning Izou, the two females got up and followed after Izou. When they reached the meeting room, they saw that everyone was there already, sitting in their seats. The three hurried each to their respective seat to begin the meeting.
The moment everyone was settled, Whitebeard nodded, gesturing Marco to speak up. The blond commander nodded at his father figure and stood up, "This information is to not be spread. Only the occupants of this room are to know. If it is spread, there will be a problem." The others nodded at his command.
"You all know how I went to meet up with my girlfriend."
Many commanders wanted to tease him and question him, but if this is important to call the commanders for a meeting and with Marco's warning about whatever information not being shared with the rest of the crew, then they can leave the teasing until a later time.
"She talked about Ann," this made the others hold their breath, is this what they think it is? "The marines know that Ann has joined the Whitebeard pirates."
That wasn't of that importance. But the others didn't have to ponder much as the next words slip from Marco's mouth.
"And the five elders know that Ann is Gol D. Roger's daughter."
Oh Shit.