Chapter 6: Becoming Siblings! Anne’s Goal Decided!

Some time has passed since Sabo has started staying with us at Dadan's, and as time went on, we got into our little routine of chores, hunting, and plundering. One of my tasks in the group was to continue being a spy, making sure the Bluejam pirates never caught on to where we were. I would sometimes check the shores and Gray Terminal, but most of the time, I would walk the streets of the central city. In hindsight, that was probably really risky to do, but I was still using the same tactic to get my treasure hauls. Although, the word of my "airess powers" has been spreading around the Goa Kingdom, so some people were being cautious when they brought out their wallets.

Recently, the boys and I have been training to get stronger, other than Garp's usual trainings. We would spar against each other, and made a scoreboard to keep a tally of wins and loses. Needless to say, none of them have been able to land a hit on me, as they would just go right through me. Hey, I'd go easy if I could.

So, one day, as I was bringing some snatched wallets to me with the wind, I was approached in the alley I was in by a group of thugs. "My, my, would you look at this," what seemed like the leader of the group of seven said. "Seems like we got ourselves the thieving Airess~."

I just rolled my eyes and spat, "What do you want? I don't want trouble, so just walk away."

The leader put his hands up as if he were offended. "Whoa, she doesn't want trouble, boys. Looks like we gotta go," he mocked with an exaggerated voice.

The wallets came down the alley and landed into my outstretched hands. I began to take the bills out and put them into the sack I usually use as if nothing were happening. "That's a mighty fine stash you got there. Since you don't want trouble, I suggest you leave the money and be on your way."

I gave an exasperated sigh and tied the sack shut before turning to the group. "I'm serious, please just walk away. I will defend myself if I need to," I warned, sticking my hands into my pockets.

All of the men started to snicker and chuckle as they all got out various weapons, which included, but not limited to: switchblades, brass knuckles, daggers, scimitars, pistols. "What's a little breeze going to do to us, girl," the leader mocked as they started stepping closer.

"Are you sure I can't talk you out of this," I asked as I started to step closer too, taking one hand out of my pocket. "I can't guarantee you'll land safely if you have your weapons drawn."

"I'm getting tired of your arrogance, girl," the leader growled. "I think it's time we teach you a lesson."

Before the leader could even attempt to slash at me with his katana, I placed my hand on his chest, forcing a jet of air to blow him over buildings and away from me. The other guys looked at me with horror, right before I did the same to them, sending them all in different directions. Once that was done, I took my haul to the new stash spot in the cliffs.

Before heading back to Dadan's, I decided to hunt a giant crocodile for dinner tonight. As I was walking back, I was using my powers to carry the heavy croc back to the house. As I was heading back to the house, I happened to run into the three boys on their way back from town. "Hey," I called out to them. "Just in time. Look what I got us!"

"Whoooooa," Luffy said with drool coming out of his mouth. "You got that all on your own?!"

"Yeah. Now, why don't you guys come help so I don't have to use my powers to carry it," I told them as I set it down. "This isn't the most subtle way of doing things and I'd hate to bring unnecessary attention our way."

The boys all agreed to help and all four of us started lugging it home. "So Sabo," Ace suddenly said, "It's time for you to come clean!"

I looked over to Ace with a questionable look, asking what happened while they were in town. "Sabo's keeping secrets," Luffy explained. "While we were in town, some rich looking guy was calling out Sabo's name and Sabo keeps saying he didn't know the guy!"

I stopped in my tracks, causing the others to as well. The wind around me started to accumulate and it started to make my hair float ominously. I tilted my head to the side as I gave Sabo an eerie look. "Now, you wouldn't be keeping secrets, right," I asked. "I highly suggest you tell us if you are, lest you want to know what it's like up in the clouds without a parachute. We had a deal: No. Secrets."

Sabo gave a gulp. He then explained how the man in town that called his name just so happened to be his father, who was an aristocrat. "Is that all," I asked, disappointed in his secret.

"So," Ace and Luffy asked in unison as they picked their noses with their pinky fingers.

"YOU WANTED TO KNOW," Sabo yelled. "Both my parents are still alive, so I'm no orphan. I wasn't even born on Trash Mountain. I'm sorry I lied to you guys."

"I don't get it," Ace started, "why would you do it? Why would an aristocrat run off to live at Trash Mountain?"

Sabo was silent for a moment as he was lost in thought. "All they care about is wealth and status," Sabo began to explain. "Not me! If I can't marry a girl from a royal family, I'm no better than trash. So they forced me to study and take lessons every single day. Then they'd fight if I couldn't learn fast enough. I was just a nuisance in that house. I may not be an orphan, but I've always been alone. The aristocrats look down on Trash Mountain, but it's still better than that suffocating Highland, living a strictly regiment life year after year… Ace! Anne! Luffy! Let's go to the sea someday! Let's get out of this country! So we can be free! I want to see the world and write a book about it! And navigation is the one thing I like to study!! Let's get strong and become pirates!"

Ace, Luffy and I all chuckled. "You don't have to convince me," Ace said proudly. "I'm gonna be a pirate and win, win, win!! I'll be famous all over the world! I'll prove my life's worth something!! No matter how many people in the world don't approve of me, no matter how many hate me… I'm gonna become a great pirate and show them all! I won't run away from anyone! I won't lose to anyone! I don't care if they call me a villain! I'll make the whole world know my name!"

"Same here," I said with a cheeky grin. "My dreams are just like that. I want to be as free as the wind, to go wherever, whenever I want! I'll travel the world, spread my name far and wide, and impact people's lives! I'm gonna see as many places as I can without anything chaining me down!"

Luffy gave an even bigger grin than I did. "Okay then," Luffy said, prepping for what he was about to exclaim. "I WANT TO BE KING OF THE PIRATES!!!"

Sabo, Ace, and I were all left speechless by what this little punk just said. "But isn't it bad that we all want to be captains," Sabo brought up.

"That's something I didn't expect," Ace said, crossing his arms. "I thought you wanted to be the navigator of my ship, Anne was going to be the strategist, and Luffy was gonna be, well, Luffy… Anyway, we'll decide our future in the future. For now, I just remembered something! Give me a second!"

We all sat the crocodile down and Ace ran off. Sabo, Luffy, and I climbed onto the croc and sat down on it. "Honestly," I said as I dangled my feet, "I don't care if I'm a captain or not. I just wanna sail with those I care for."

"Boooo," Sabo teased, "too noble and cheesy!"

Ace came running back with a large bottle and four red sake cups in a net bag. "Hey," Luffy said as Ace placed a sake cup in front of each of us. "You stole Dadan's bottle, didn't you?"

"You know about this," Ace said, popping the cork off of the bottle. "If you exchange cups, it makes you brothers… er, in Anne's case, sister. When we become pirates, we might not be on the same ship together, but the four of us will always be brothers and sister! No matter where we are or what we do, this bond will never be broken!" We all grabbed a cup and clanked them together. "Starting today, we're all brothers and sister!"

All four of us cheered, throwing back the sake.

~ ~ ~

The next few months were just as fun as they have been, and the four of us did everything together. Once, some people that Luffy knew, Woop Slap and Makino, came to visit Luffy. Makino told us not to tell Gramps that she had come and she brought some new clothes for us. Ace was somewhat bashful around her while she was seeing if some of the clothes fit him, probably since he's only used to being around guys, Dadan and I. "I heard that Ace was mischievous," Makino said while holding a shirt up to him for measurement, "but you seem like a good boy."

"You just don't know him that well yet," I teased.

Ace just looked away from her with blush on his face while Sabo, Luffy and I giggled and teased him.

Sadly for me, who usually wears shorts and pants, a lot of the outfits she brought for me were skirts and dresses for the summer. Because she went out of her way and brought them specifically for me, I had to put them on to show them to her. The boys couldn't stop laughing at the awkwardness I felt wearing such feminine clothes. It almost felt wrong wearing such clothes when it wasn't part of one of my disguises. It was weird not wearing pants, to say the least. The bandits never had nice clothes, so it was strange having something new that wasn't stolen.

Makino even stayed to make dinner for all of us, and let me tell you, it was delicious! It had been quite awhile since I last had such delicious food! "Meals should be this good on the ship," Sabo said as he stuffed his face. "I'm gonna get the best cook first thing when I go out to sea!"

"I'm gonna become a pirate before you so just forget it," Ace said, taking a bite out of the meat in his hand.

"Now, now, boys," I joined in, "we all know I am going to be the first to sail, being the oldest and all. So *I'll* be the one to snatch the best cook first."

"That's not fair," Luffy protested. "I'm gonna become a pirate first!"

What none of us boasting children knew was that there was towering figure looming over us from behind, glaring down at the four of us. The bandits all did a spit-take while the four of us kids just stared at them in confusion. We then heard a deep clearing of the throat and Ace, Luffy, and I all lost the color in our face. We knew that sound all too well…

We slowly turned our heads back and saw the menacing Gramps standing in the doorway. "You're still saying crap like that," Gramps growled. It was Ace's, Luffy's, and my turn to do a spit-take with our eyes bulging out. "Can't you three understand that you must become Marine soldiers?!"

He then wacked Ace, Luffy, and I on the top of our heads, as well as Dadan, causing us all to fall to the floor. "Ow, ow, ow… no mercy at all," I whimpered as I rubbed the top of my head.

Gramps told Dadan she got hit as well because she wasn't teaching us brats well. Makino held her hands up to her mouth and Sabo was wide-eyed and sweating. "H-He's Garp," Sabo asked in awe. "He's Ace, Anne, and Luffy's grandfather?"

"Squirt," Gramps growled, turning his attention to Sabo, "you mentioned about going out to sea, too…"

Luffy moved in between Gramps and Sabo with an arm out to his side as he told Gramps, "He's not a "Squirt" - he's Sabo! We all exchanged a cup of sake and pledged to become pirates!"

I just facepalmed as Ace had a sweatdrop on the side of his face. "Oi, oi," I said with a sigh, "don't rope me into this… I just said I was gonna sail. I never specified how…"

Gramps began to crack his knuckles as he said, "Oh, that means now there are three fools, with the potential of Anne, who want me to give them a real workout!"

The four of us began to sweat as we looked at Gramps in terror. We took off out of the house, fleeing from Gramps' rage. Gramps chased after us, leaving a trail of destruction as he swung at us. He sure ran us through the wringer. Even when it was four-on-one, we still couldn't even get a hit on him! Since he could use Armament Haki, he wasn't taking it easy on me neither and would hit me just as hard as he would the boys. I was actually kind of glad, since he wasn't treating me any differently.

"Geez, Gramps," I groaned as I rubbed a bump on my head that I got from him. "Do you even know what mercy is? Or how to build up children's self-esteems?"

"You don't believe enemies out in the real world would show you mercy, do you," Gramps said as he cracked his knuckles.

"No, but most of them aren't on Vice Admiral levels," I protested.

"You'd be surprised how many pirates are stronger than me," Gramps said with a hardy laugh. "So I'm just preparing you guys to become Marines to take them down!"

"Ugh," Ace went as he rolled his eyes, "There you go again. I'm not gonna be a Marine, I'm going to be a pirate!"

"Yeah, and I'm going to be King of the Pirates," Luffy cheered.

"Here, here," Sabo joined in.

"I just don't wanna get hit anymore," I weeped.

Gramps gave them hell for declaring such dreams in front of him. I was the only one smart enough not to... Gramps said he was determined to turn us into Marines, rather than turning us in to the Marine. It was understandable why he wanted us to be Marines when he put it that way, and I knew I would hate to go against him someday! That was basically the only reason I wasn't 100% committed to becoming a pirate yet! "That's it for today," he told us as he began to walk off towards Dadan's place. "I'm gonna be harsher tomorrow! You can't drop dead yet!"

The boys were all passed out from their beatings, so I just used the air to pick them all up. I dragged myself and the boys back to the house, and up to our room. Dropping them onto the ground, they quickly came to, shaking the fuzziness out of their heads. "If nothing is done, the old man will kill us tomorrow," Ace whispered as all of the adults had gone to sleep already.

"Even if we survive, he'll keep doing it until we give up our dream," Sabo added.

"You know guys, I've been thinking about something," I said. "We've been depending on the Dadan family for some things, but when we become pirates, we won't be able to depend on them for things like food and shelter, just ourselves and our crew. Shouldn't we be practicing doing so before we leave the island?"

"Hey, you're right," Ace said with a mischievous grin. "We really should start becoming independent! We only have one choice to do that and avoid the old man's wrath. It's time to make up our minds, siblings. Let's become independent!"

We all nodded. Sabo wrote a note that said 'We will stand on our feet. AASL' and we pinned it a post after packing some supplies into burlap sacks. We each grabbed our sacks and ran out into the night and into the forest. We ran all night, just to make sure we weren't followed. Once morning came, we stopped for a moment as it began to rain. Luckily, there was a large tree nearby with a hole in the trunk where the roots came up, so we ran to seek shelter in it. We all sat down as we watched the rain come down. "Heheh, this is exciting," Luffy said with a giant grin.

Because we had stayed up all night on the run, and still being exhausted after Gramps' beatdown, the boys ended up falling asleep, leaning on each other. I decided to stay up to act as the lookout/guard in case the Dadan family or the Bluejam pirates happened to come by. I looked towards the boys and couldn't help but give a slight grin. The three looked so peaceful asleep, as if they didn't have a single care or worry in the world. It was moments like this that I was so grateful to have these three as my younger brothers. They could be hellians at times, but they were my hellions, and I would give my life to protect them in a heartbeat.

Thinking about that, I got up from where I was sitting and went outside of the tree so I wouldn't wake the boys. Rain drops fell into my face as I looked up into the dreary sky. Everything truly did seem peaceful.

I decided I wasn't going to waste any time. I may have been exhausted, but I was going to get stronger for them. I was going to keep improving and use my powers better. I already had a handle on flying around and using a blade of air to cut inanimate objects like logs, but I didn't really have any skills that could help in offense or defense in a fight. I could easily use flight to avoid situations and attacks, but what if I get into a situation where I can't escape by air or one that requires me to fight back? I'm not as adept at fighting as the boys, since I've always relied on avoiding fights and my intangibility. So for the next few hours, I focused on increasing ways I could do damage, other than blasting people away with the wind. I ended up coming up with the idea of creating wind arm bracers to increase the strength and speed of my punches… that doesn't mean I got it down instantly during this time. Nah. I could barely manipulate the air to wrap around my forearms in a spiral pattern by the time the rain started to stop.

Once the rain fully stopped, I went back into the tree and gently shook the boys awake. "Hey," I whispered to them, "it's stopped raining, boys. Time to get to work."

The boys slowly started to wake as they rubbed their eyes. Sabo got up to go stretch outside of the tree while Ace looked me up and down. "Anne, why are you soaking wet," Ace asked with concern.

"Don't worry," I reassured him, "I was just… looking around. Keeping watch."

I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I was training hard out in the rain while they were sound asleep. It'd rile him up and make him feel like he wasn't doing enough for the group if I was doing all of the work. He and the other two are still only ten and seven, they needed all of the rest they could get to grow strong. But if I ever said that outloud, Ace would get extremely offended at the fact that I still saw him as a child.

"The whole point of us seeking shelter in the tree was in order not to get wet," Ace said with a raised eyebrow. "So what were you doing that you couldn't do around us? Must have been something that made noise and you didn't want to wake us. If it were just acting as a lookout, you could have done that from inside the tree, or at least in the branches where it's dry."

Just then, Sabo interrupted by calling the three of us outside. We all got up and went out to see what he wanted, and he had a piece of paper spread out in front of him. "What's this," I asked him as we all looked at the paper.

"I designed our hideout," he explained. "We can't sleep outside forever, right? So we gotta build a hideout right here!"

"A hideout… that's so cool," Luffy exclaimed.

"What about materials," Ace asked.

"That's simple," I said as I pulled out a map I brought of the Goa Kingdom. I continued to explain as I pointed to corresponding places as I talked, "There's an almost endless supply of scarps at Gray Terminal, plus we can use wood from trees in the forest near the cove we found. If we need any special materials or tools, I can make the trip downtown!"

We all cheered for our plan to build a hideout and set out to begin getting supplies. We managed to snag a cart to haul our materials and we all worked together to get wood, metals, screws, nails, and Luffy even found a boat's wheel. Once we filled the cart with supplies and the tools we needed, we headed back to the tree. Taking one end of a rope, I flew up to some branches up high and tied it around one of them so that the boys could climb up the tree easier. We sawed wood planks in half, nailed and tied them together, and not too long after, we had a platform base completed.

Some days, while I patrolled as the boys got supplies, I would occasionally see the Dadan family running around, probably looking for us. In my heart, I had hoped they were looking for us because they cared. But, let's face it, they were bandits and Dadan never showed us anything but irritation. There may have been a single moment or two where it seemed like she cared, but I could never tell, and I wasn't going to risk getting caught trying to ask her.

Soon enough, after two weeks, we had a hideout built, with its own ship wheel and crow's nest! Up in the crow's nest, we even had our own Jolly Roger, with a pair of criss-crossed bones and our initials in the middle: a green A for Anne, followed by a red A for Ace, then a blue S for Sabo, and lastly a yellow L for Luffy. The crow's nest was my favorite part, as I enjoyed going up, feeling the natural wind hit my face and blow through my hair. I may be able to control the air around me as I please, but there is just something about the free, uncontrolled natural air that just hit differently.

We all stood at the base of the tree, looking up at the masterpiece we had constructed together. "Awesome," Luffy exclaimed. "Looks exactly like the design!"

"Great work, if I say so myself," Sabo said proudly. "Eh? What's wrong, Ace?"

Ace had a questionable look on his face as he looked up at the hideout. "This is a hideout so we gotta set up some traps," Ace replied.

"Okay, I'll think about it," Sabo said with a grin.

I began to use the air to levitate and I told the boys, "See you up at the top!"

We all made our way up to the crow's nest and took in the site. It was just like being on a real ship's crows' nest! Or, at least, I assumed so since none of us had been on a real ship in awhile. The boys must have felt the same, as they all took their positions. Ace stayed up in the crow's nest with me, while Luffy went down onto a branch where the sails would be and Sabo went down to where the ship's steering wheel was. We spent our time imagining we were pirates and it was the most fun I had had in quite some time. It was nice being able to be a kid and play once in a while, especially during these times.

While I was up at the crow's nest acting as the barrelman, I happened to notice Dogra and Magra hiding behind a tree, looking up at our base. Rather than worrying the boys, I just used the air to blow the two away before the boys saw them.

That night, while the boys slept, I couldn't get myself to sleep as I kept thinking about the two Dadan family members from earlier. If they had found us, then they must have told Dadan where we were by now.

I was debating on whether or not to tell the boys, when I heard something outside. I laid down to act as if I were asleep, but kept one eye barely cracked open to see. In the window, I noticed Dadan peering into the window. She looked at the sleeping boys and me with a friendly smile I'd never seen her wear before as she said, "When they're asleep, they look like ordinary kids." Luffy then rolled over and accidentally kicked his blanket off. "Oh no, don't catch a cold."

Dadan then made her way to the doorway and moved the flaps out of the way as she stepped in. As she stepped in, she accidentally set off one of Sabo's traps. After a series of events, the trap eventually sent a giant mallet into her, sending her flying out of the hideout. The thud of Dadan hitting the ground woke Sabo up, causing him to wake the other two and say, "A trap went off!"

Ace, Sabo and I went over to the window and looked out to see if we could see anyone. "Someone tried to invade already," Ace asked as he looked out.

"I don't see anyone though," Sabo said, turning away from the window. "Maybe it was just a glitch. Well, we made it in a hurry so it could happen."

Ace stayed at the window and Sabo went back to his futon while Luffy rubbed his eyes, sitting on his futon. "I'll be right back, don't stay up," I said I went to the entrance of the hideout.

"Where're you going," Ace asked curiously.

"I bet she's going to take a leak," Luffy said, half asleep still.

I sighed as I rolled my eyes and groaned, "You couldn't just say going to the bathroom… Anyway, be right back."

I gently floated down in the direction Dadan was sent. I could hear her cussing and I followed the curses to her. She must not have heard me approach as she muttered she'd never worry about us again. She nearly jumped out of her skin when I said, "Aw, you cared about us?"

"A-Anne," she stuttered. "O-Of course not! W-Why would I ever be worried about you heathens?!"

I just tilted my head with a smile as I said, "Thank you for caring, even if you try to hide it."

"A-As if anyone would care about you," Dadan tried to play it off, walking back towards the Dadan house. "I'm leaving!"

I waved farewell to her and went back up. Sabo and Luffy had already gone back to sleep and Ace was leaning against the wall near the window, waiting for me. "So, what'd she want," he asked me, referring to Dadan.

"So you did see her," I said with a chuckle. "Dadan was just checking up on us, making sure we were alive and well, in her own way."

"Hmph," Ace went as he got off the wall and went to his futon. "Whatever, I don't care."

I couldn't help but chuckle at how he tried to hide that he did slightly care. We both went to bed, excited for a new day, unaware of the struggles we would be facing in the not-too-far future.