Chapter 13: Anne’s Homecoming! Grasping for Her Freedom!

Months went by pretty quickly, hopping from island to island. I would never stay too long on the islands, as I would just go to a market, buy some food and water, and sometimes sleep at inns if the islands were barely populated. Other nights, I would just hide the boat in a cove and sleep in the closet of the sloop's cabin.

It felt nice when Dawn Island finally came into view. As soon as I saw it, I grabbed my bag, changed into my high neck sleeveless shirt and shorts, and used my air to levitate myself and my supplies. Before flying to the island, I used a jet of air to push my Marine sloop away from the island, so that way the Marines or anyone else looking for me wouldn't find it on the island. Hopefully, it would make its way to another island and throw them off my trail for a little bit.

With my supplies flying beside me, I flew towards the shore. After about ten minutes of straight flying, I made touchdown on the sandy beaches near Windmill Village. I felt the warm sand between my toes through my sandals, smelled the bakery near the edge of the village, and listened to the sea gulls caw.

I didn't notice at first, but that someone had been sitting on a branch of a near by tree, as if they expected me to arrive. I lost focus and dropped all of my stuff onto the sand as I stared at the person. I took one slow step forward, then another, and took off into a run as I tackled the person to the ground as I screamed, "Ace!!!"

"Oof, hey, Anne," Ace said with a chuckle as we both laid on the ground with goofy grins. "It's about time you got here."

Picking ourselves up off of the sand, we both brushed ourselves off. I used this opportunity to look Ace up and down. In the year and a half I was gone, this 13 year-old had definitely grown. He might not be as tall as me just yet, but his slender shoulders were starting to broaden and his arms and chest were starting to become defined, visible through his open shirt. I was nearly in happy tears just looking at him, fully realizing I was finally back home from hell. "I can't believe how much you've grown," I told him with a gentle smile.

"I'm not the only one, I see," he said, his turn to look me over in surprise. "You're actually starting to look like a woman. And before you hit me, that was a compliment, I swear."

After the sudden joy of seeing Ace started to calm, it then dawned on me that he was down here on the shores and not up in the mountain. "Heeeey," I asked as I started to levitate my supplies up off of the sand. "What are you even doing here? I was supposed to be the one to surprise YOU!"

"I had a feeling you would be coming back, after seeing this," Ace told me, handing me a folded up sheet of paper.

Taking the paper from him, I opened it up and saw it was a wanted poster of me. Underneath the "Dead or Alive" was the name "Portgas D. Anne", with a startling bounty of 50 million berry reward! This was largely in part that I was a Devil Fruit user, I had assaulted a Celestial Dragon, and I was an ex-Marine with knowledge they would prefer not get leaked. This included operations, undercover Marine identities, and the usual stuff that could hurt an organization if it was leaked.

I noticed the photo that was taken of me was back at the island I assaulted the Celestial Dragon. My hair was up in a ponytail as I gave a fierce glare. It didn't look too bad of a photo… until I noticed the Marine officer's jacket on my shoulders.

"Um… I can explain," I nervously said, unable to make eye-contact with Ace, having never told him what I was doing this whole time.

"What's there to explain," Ace said as he leaned to the side with his hands in his pockets. I bit my lip, expecting Ace to be disappointed. "Gramps pressured you to join the Marines since he knew Luffy and I wouldn't, unfortunate things probably happened, and you fled. I just can't believe I didn't realize what was going on until I saw the poster. The old man and some other vice admiral even came by asking Luffy and I if you'd come back to the island yet. Did you know your outlaw nickname is "Airess Anne"? I'll definitely have a better nickname than that!"

"Gramps and Delta even knew I'd be coming back," I asked, then looked away again. "So, you're not upset that I was a Marine? After all, you and Luffy always exclaimed how you would become great pirates, and here I went and became the enemy of pirates…"

"Why would I be upset," Ace asked with a reassuring grin. "You did what you thought was best for you, and even went out of your way to send Luffy and I an allowance from your own paycheck. I'm just glad to see you again, Anne."

Ace and I shared another hug. "Hey, I got a question," I told him with a sly grin. "Do you wanna fly back to the mountain?"

"Wait, you can use your air to fly you, your stuff and another person now," Ace asked, somewhat impressed with my progression with my abilities.

I nodded as I levitated myself next to my supplies and then levitated him as well. It took him a moment to get used to being in the air as he flailed his arms and legs, but then let go and just floated with a laugh as I began flying us towards and up the mountain. "Man, now I see why you were always flying everywhere. This is pretty cool!"

It was basically a laughing fest as we flew, Ace laughing with joy at flying and me laughing at his purity. I will admit, it's been quite a while since I last laughed like this, a laugh with pure joy and joviality, not having to worry about any bullying or harassment like I did back at base. It was truly amazing, especially since I had just gotten back. It was as if I had never even left.

We reached the old familiar Dadan hut by flying over the trees and I saw our "independent countries" were still all intact. While Ace's and Luffy's were still pretty tidy (as tidy as these two could be), mine was a bit dusty with plant life trying to take over it.

Setting Ace down in front of his own shack, I flew up to mine and set my supplies down inside. I made a gentle air vortex that spun around me to clear the dust and plants off my old shack. Once I put my stuff to the side, I floated back down to Ace, just as Dadan came out shouting, "What's with all of the racket?!"

She stared at me for a good half minute, until I gave a small wave. "Hi again, Mama Dan," I said as I walked over and gave her a quick hug. "It's good to see you again."

I threw her off for a moment at the sudden hug and polite greeting. "Anne," she asked in disbelief. "I wondered when you'd end up coming back. B-But it's not like I missed you, I just wondered when I would have to put up with you again!"

"I missed you, too," I teased her with a snicker. "So, where's Luffy?"

"He went out hunting right before I went down the mountain," Ace told me.

Almost as if on cue, we heard a loud "thud" of something dropping to the ground, followed by a voice shouting, "Is that Anne?!?!"

Turning around, I saw a slightly taller Luffy standing there with a giant bear lying next to him. Before I could even react, the boy was already tackling me with a hug with joyful tears running down his face. Luffy continued to bawl as I hugged him back and stroked the top of his head like I used to do. "Hey, it's been a while, hasn't it, Luffy," I told him with a soft smile and a chuckle.

"What are you doing here?! And why was Gramps looking for you yesterday," Luffy asked with his arms still wrapped around my waist multiple times. "And when did you get older?! You've got boobs now!"

I facepalmed, as if it were anyone else that had said that to me, I probably would have been offended. However, I let it slide since it was the goofball, Luffy. I knew he didn't mean any harm by it, he was just stating his observation, no matter how inappropriate it might be. "Oh, you know, I just got them a couple days ago," I joked, causing Ace to give a laugh.

Luffy and I separated and Dadan went back inside her hut. I offered to help skin the prey that Luffy had brought.

"Really," Ace asked, not convinced by my words. "You used to want nothing to do with the process of skinning or cutting up the animals. You always said it was too gruesome of a process for you and you'd stick to cooking the meat once it was taken out."

I gave a shrug and simply told him, "I guess it doesn't really bother me now."

Ace gave me a look of suspicion while Luffy asked, "So what was being a Marine like? Did you meet any cool pirates? Did you eat any good food? Oh! Did you find any treasure?!"

"Mmmmm… The Marines were awful, I didn't get the chance to meet any cool pirates, only good food I had was at a sea restaurant on the way here, and unfortunately there was no treasure," I answered.

"What do you mean by awful," Ace asked as we prepped the bear for skinning. "Was being a Marine that bad? You didn't say anything like that in your letters."

"Well, it was like I was only a pawn, forced to do things I absolutely wouldn't have wanted to do in a million years," I told them, taking a knife Ace handed to me. I made the first cut and dragged the knife and separated the skin from the meat as I continued, "I… tortured and killed people. My hands are and always will be covered in their blood. I didn't even get to determine if they were truly guilty or not. And they weren't just pirates, but fathers, mothers, daughters, sons… siblings. Kids your age… My company's leader hated me for my past and would make sure my future was hell. He purposely made my first kill a pair of brothers, probably knowing they were the same age as you two..."

"That's terrible," Ace said, somewhat frustrated that he had no clue what I went through.

"Why would he do that," Luffy asked.

"I don't know, Luffy," I told him as I pulled back the pelt. "Some people are just cruel in this world."

"Well, I don't think you are, Anne," Luffy told me with a big grin.

"I agree," Ace said as he threw the pelt and fur to the side. "You're not a bad person. You did what you had to in order to survive the Marines. Anyone, even probably I, would have done the same in your position. No matter what you do, Luffy and I will always see you as our awesome sister."

These boys melted my heart. Although, right as I thought this, Ace had started dressing the bear as he reached inside to take out the organs. Seeing all of the blood and guts seemed to trigger bad memories, reminding me of some of the torture sessions I would assist with and some of the gory missions I was sent on.

I had to step back for a moment, apologizing for not helping as much as I had hoped. Ace just waved it off and told me to take it easy and reminded me that I still had to finish unpacking and put everything away.

When I tried to protest, saying I could still help, it was Luffy's turn to resist me and demanded that I finish getting my "independent airspace" sorted out. I gave in with a sigh and headed back up to my little shack, where I put away all my clothes, set some of the leftover food I had to one side, set my water to the other side, and leaned my fans near my futon.

Seeing my futon, I noticed all the dust and grime that had covered it. I decided to take it to the edge of the platform and began beating the stuff off it with some air whips. Once no more dirt particles were flying off it, I laid it back down where it was before, just as Luffy was calling up that the food was ready. Jumping down, I walked over to the fire they had built, and they handed me some bear meat on the bone. I took it and gave them my thanks as we all sat down in front of the flames as dusk approached.

As the three of us ate, I looked towards my brothers and our shacks, overcome with emotion. I still couldn't believe I was back home and out of the Marines. I never truly realized how toxic the Marines was for me until now, as I sat here on the other side of the East Blue. Not fearing for my life because of Vice Admiral Delta, or a pirate group I was sent to hunt. I was truly free to make my own choices again. Free to not kill. Free to live my life.

Ace happened to look over and noticed some tears running down my face. "Anne, What's wrong? Why are you crying," Ace asked, slightly startled. It was apparent that he did not know how to approach this situation. He tried to inch closer, but did not know how to comfort me.

I snapped out of my thoughts and wiped my tears away. "It's nothing," I told him with a genuine smile with my eyes closed. "I'm just so happy to be free again, or at least freer than I was. I promise, I'm not going to cry anymore after tonight..."

Ace shrugged it off and Luffy asked with a mouthful of food, "So what's your plan now? You're gonna be 17 in a few months, are you gonna stay on the island or set out like we planned?"

Setting the stripped bone I ate off of aside and getting another, I told them, "I'm going to stick to our original plan. The day I turn 17, I'll set out. Besides, it's not like I can stay here anyway. The Marines know I grew up on this island, so they're bound to keep checking up for me, just like Gramps and Delta did."

"Soooo," Ace said with a smirk and raised eyebrow while elbowing my side, "does that mean there's another pirate in the family?"

Luffy's eyes lit up with excitement, looking my way for an answer. I gave a shrug as I said, "Maaaaybe."

Luffy jumped for joy as he exclaimed, "This is a cause for celebration!!! Anne's finally going to become a pirate, too!"

"I might as well," I said with a laugh. "If Vice Admiral Delta wanted me to be a pirate, I'll give him a pirate! I couldn't change the corrupt government from the inside-out, so I'll just have to try and change it somehow from the outside-in."

"That's more like being a rebel, rather than a pirate," Ace corrected, finishing the last piece of meat.

"Semantics," I said with a roll of the eyes, playfully slugging Ace in the shoulder.

I suddenly felt the presence of someone getting near, and their presence felt vaguely familiar. I still haven't trained all that much in Observational Haki, so I couldn't tell exactly who it was, just the direction they were in and how near they were. I quickly rose to my feet. "Someone's heading this way. They'll be approaching from four o'clock."

Ace and Luffy quickly grabbed their long pipes and stood on guard, pointing their pipes in the direction the person was coming, while I flew up into the treetops. A figure came into view but not clearly visible within the shadows, startled by the sudden pipes being aimed towards their face. "Wooh, easy there, tigers," a familiar voice told the boys with his hands up. "I'm just looking for an Ace and a Luffy… I heard they lived up in the mountains on this island? "

"I don't know, who wants to know," Luffy threatened with a glare.

I could see the figure trying to get a better look at the boys. "There's no doubt about it," the guy said with a laugh. He then gestured towards Ace and then Luffy respectively as he continued, "You must be Ace, and you must be Luffy. Anne mentioned Ace being biologically related to her, and Anne looks a lot like you. Plus, I've seen that family glare of yours from her countless times!"

It then dawned on me who this person was. "I get it now," Ace said with a glare as well. "Shaggy blond hair, older than Anne, brass-knuckles on the hip… You're probably that old teammate of hers. What was it, Flax? Whatever your face is, get lost! We don't take kindly to Marines around here."

"Aw, she talked about me? I'm flattered," the guy joked. "And the name's Felix. I was hoping to find her and chat."

I descended from the branch I was on and landed in the middle of the three boys, surprising all of them. I stormed up to Felix and glared up into his eyes, since he was easily a foot taller than me. I caught him off guard as I demanded, "What do you think you're doing here?"

"Wh-What," he asked, still stunned by my sudden approach.

"Anne, what are you doing," Ace growled. "You were supposed to stay hidden. We had this!"

"I surely hope you didn't come all the way to my home island in order to use my own brothers to bait me," I spat with each word seething with venom. "Because, so help me, I don't care if we were a part of the same company. I would end you in less than a heartbeat."

"What? Of course I would never do that," Felix attempted to explain. "I was going to ask if they could point me to where you were. I just wanted to talk, that's all. So... could we talk?"

I looked him over skeptically. He didn't seem to have anything threatening on him, just a white v-neck, a pair of black trousers, boots and his brass knuckles tied to his hip in a loose knot. I just realized now that he wasn't wearing his Marine "Justice" jacket.

"You can't be serious," Ace said as he crossed his arms, giving Felix the stink eye. "Why would she go with a Marine to a second location… by herself? Whatever it is, you can say in front of us."

"Even if it was a love confession," Felix teased with a kissy face.

Ace was callous towards Felix, especially after that comment about his sister. "Relax, little man. It doesn't need to be just Anne and me. Besides, it's ex-Marine to you. I was just gonna tell her I deserted, as well."

"Why in the world would you desert the Marines," I asked in consternation. "Do you even know what you've done or the consequences your actions will have?!"

"Of course I know," he told me without a care in the world. "You don't even know the half of it! So, not only did I disobey and desert the Marines, do you remember how I mentioned that once I became a true noble at the age of 18, I would be forced to go home and start living like one? Well… I heard how you were bold and brave enough to desert all on your own. So, on the day before I turned 18 last month, I decided to desert, as well."

I gave an involuntary facepalm. "So, not only did you desert the Marines, but you also deserted your noble duties on top of that," I sighed as I held my head. "But why in the world would you do that? And why would you come here just to tell me that?"

"I was actually ordered to find and eliminate you… but I just felt like finding you, since killing you would be too much work. Not only that, but if I killed you, my entertainment would be gone, since you always seem to bring some form of excitement wherever you go… I also need a place to crash," Felix said as he picked his nose, almost eerily like my brothers. "Being a trashy noble is too boring, and the Marines already labeled you as a pirate. So, which do you think is the better of the options: go back and live a boring life as a noble, stay with the Marines and act as a soldier, or come here and live the thrilling life of a pirate?"

"H-Hey, I'm not a pirate… yet," I told him as I used the wind to start cleaning up the bones the boys and I ate from into a neat pile.

I thought for a moment, realizing if Felix really had left the Marines, this would be a great opportunity to recruit him to join my future crew. "You do realize that I can't guarantee safety, warmth, food or water, right? I don't even have a boat right now, just the money I saved before leaving, which would be enough for me to personally survive about two months on the sea. That is, if I'm only buying food and water. So, could you really commit to the life of a pirate?"

"Why are you even entertaining the thought, Anne," Ace asked, not taking his eyes off Felix. "You said he's a noble, right? There's no way-."

"Mmm, yeah. I could commit to that," Felix said with a neutral face and a nod. "I've told you I already fled, so I might as well dig a little deeper into the life of a criminal."

"I like the way this guy thinks! He's cool," Luffy said as he laughed. "Hey, Ace, I don't think this guy's all that bad!"

"I don't think you're half bad either, half-pint," Felix said with a chuckle.

"Luffy, don't let the enemy deceive you so easily," Ace said as he hit Luffy on top of the head. He then gave a huff as he crossed his arms again. "I may not trust the guy, but… it's up to you, Anne. You know him better, I guess."

I took a moment to think, but relented as I told him, "Fine, but I am not responsible for your wellbeing. As I told my brothers, I'm planning on saving and getting more money over the next few months, until the day I turn 17. Ace, Luffy and I all have built our own place, so you'll need a place, whether it be building your own somewhere or finding shelter."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Felix said with a giant grin. "While I was walking around the mountain area, I stumbled across an intriguing treehouse I could probably use."

Ace, Luffy and I all glared daggers into him as I growled, "Absolutely not. That was the hideout my brothers and I shared with our late brother."

"I'm sorry to hear that, I didn't know," Felix told me.

I shook my head and told him it was fine since he didn't know. I told the others to wait for a moment as I flew back to my shack and got some supplies like homemade pillows, a few spare blankets, and other things Felix would probably need. I flew back to the three boys and began to walk off into the forest as I said, "Anyway, there's a cave not too far from here that you could use as a temporary residence. Judging by how light your bag looks and having known you for almost two years, I'm guessing you only brought a few changes of clothes and barely enough food and water to get yourself here…"

"Bingo," Felix said with a wink and finger-guns, walking behind me. "You know me so well, Airess."

Ace began walking behind me next to Felix, pipe in hand and purposely moving his shirt a bit to reveal his developing six-pack and biceps to try and intimidate Felix. "Luffy, you go ahead and head back to your independent country. I'll make sure we get back in a little bit."

Luffy gave a nod and ran back to the shacks as I led the way to the cave. It was only a five-minute walk from the shacks, and the entrance could be easily hidden by shrubbery. Walking into it, I sat the supplies down, turned around, and told Felix, "Welcome to your literal humble abode, if you so desire. This, as well as the supplies I sat down just now, are all that I can give you for now."

"Nothing like the noble life, huh," Ace tried to mock Felix with a smirk.

"It's more than enough," Felix said with a chuff. "You forget that I had to live with similar situations as a Marine. And geez, not all nobles are corrupt, you know."

"We should know that almost better than anyone, Ace," I told him, referencing Sabo.

Ace just gave an eye roll as he grabbed my wrist and led towards the cave entrance, "Come on. We showed the guy the cave and gave him stuff for the night. Let's get back to our place, it's getting late."

I waved Felix farewell as I got dragged out and Felix gave a wave back to Ace and I. As Ace and I walked back to our shacks, I looked to him and asked, "I know you just met Felix and all, but why do you already seem like you hate his guts?"

"I wouldn't say I hate the guy," Ace said with crossed arms, "but I definitely don't like him. I mean, he joked about a love confession when he just found us! He seems like a real creep! And as your brother, it's my job to protect you!"

"And as the oldest among us, it's my job to protect you," I rebutted. "And you know if Luffy heard this conversation, he'd be trying to argue that, since he was the youngest, he would protect both of us."

"Sadly, he would," Ace said with a sigh as we reached our shacks.

When we approached the shacks, we saw that Luffy was already sprawled out asleep in his. We both couldn't resist a snicker as we covered him up with his blanket. "Still the same as always," I said with soft eyes and a gentle smile, then looked to Ace and continued, "the both of you haven't changed… I'm glad."

I could see that Ace wanted to say the same, but even he knew that would be a lie. I was no longer the naïve and lighthearted little girl I used to be. The Marines forced me to grow up and always be on guard, to realize that I was no longer a child. Not only that, but it made me realize how dangerous being a pirate or being related to a pirate is. If the Marines ever found out that the bloodline of Gol D. Roger continued onto Ace and I, we'd be targeted until the day we die… But I wasn't going to let the Marines win by letting them get into my head.

"Someday," I said as I looked up at the clear, starry night sky, "I'm going to change the unjust World Government and Marines."

"Oh? And how do you plan on doing that," Ace asked teasingly.

I simply looked back at him with a big smirk and told him, "I'll become a greater pirate than our father was."

"I'm sorry, what," Ace asked in disbelief. "I don't know what father you're talking about. We have none. And if we did have a great pirate father, how would you change the world with a plan like that?"

"It's more difficult than it sounds, but it's simple," I told him as I floated up to my platform and sat on the edge. "You'd be surprised by what you can do with the support of a lot of people. There are a few things I have planned, in no particular order. One is to get a large and magnificent crew. One person cannot accomplish much on their own, so having people to back you up is a must. Another goal is to help as many people as possible being oppressed by the government. There are undoubtedly many more out there that have suffered just like us who are not as strong. So, by helping them, it will also help build me a support system that will back up my cause. Another big step will be making a name for myself. By gaining fame, infamy, and notoriety, people around the world will at least know of me, leading them to discover my cause. Then, once all of the pieces are gathered, as well as accumulating a decent amount of wealth as additional backup, I can attempt to force a change if the government doesn't want to listen to the people."

"My, that's quite the ambitious plan you've got," Ace said with a yawn and a stretch before going into his shack to lay down. "But I'm sure you'll do fine. After all, you are our sister!"

I gave a shrug. "Well, if anything, I just plan to sail to as many places as I can. I want to explore this world, meet its people. I'll just try and help wherever I can, and the pieces should fall into place."

Heading to my futon, I told Ace goodnight, and went to sleep before I started prepping for my grand voyage in a couple of months.