Fanfic: Valentine's Day-Part 2
Disclaimer: I own the characters, the idea, and the story. Except for the characters from Pirates In Love, they belong to their respective owners.
A/N: Sorry for the wait! This is part two of The Valentine's Day story. Hope you like this! :D
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Long streams of squeals and shrieks came from Ally's room. 5 girls were busy giving their last minute preparation for the last two hours. The only long, black haired girl sat quietly in a corner watching her seniors (And her older half-sister) bickering and putting on make up. Said half-sister then turn and shove her entire attention on her, speaking in Japanese as she twirled around in her flowery dress Ally had chose for her.
"Eri~! How do I look in this dress?? Should I get something else instead? Oh wow! You're already dressed for tonight!!" Masaki stared in wonder at her younger sister, turning her head to look at every angle of Erinica. "So? What do you think?"
In actual fact, Eri thought to herself, her sister does look nice in that dress of hers. The only problem is that it did not suit the occasion. "It looks nice on you." Eri chose not to point out the fact and instead complimented her elder half-sister.
Masaki beamed, before she skipped towards Juliana and helped the red haired girl with her belt. Said girl wore a red fiery checkered dress complimenting the colour of her hair, and a black belt around her waist, showing off her slim figure. Juliana had on a pair of brown rugged boots, which she proceeded to strut about in search of a cowboy hat.
"Ally! Do you have a hat? Or more specifically, a cowboy hat?"
"My goodness! Juliana! Whatever for?"
As the two girls bickered with each other, Meiko was silently placing her lip gloss in extreme care as not to get it on the rest of her face. Unlike the rest, she wore a long white dress that had multiple patterns of white roses, with a crown made of dried flowers on her head. She had no shoes on at the moment, Erinica observed and momentarily pondered the choice of shoes to go with the girl's dress. Her gaze fell on a pair of brownish orange stripes sandals near the chair she was sitting on.
"Meiko."
Meiko, at the call of her name, placed down the lip gloss on the 'make-up' counter and turned to face Masaki's sister, Erinica. She slowly got up, walked past Ally and Juliana, apologized to Masaki for accidentally bumping into her, and stopped in front of Eri. Her questioning expression was answered when she realized the pair of sandals beside the younger girl. She smiled at it and bend to pick up the sandals with Erinica watching her movement.
"Thank you, Erinica. That was very thoughtful of you."
"It was nothing much. But, you're welcome."
Eri shrugged at the comment, but said nothing more when she caught Ally eyeing her attire. Ally was wearing a pink spaghetti gown, a grand necklace with a thumb-size sapphire crystal matched with a pair of sapphire stud earrings, and a glass slipper was what Ally had. In contrast to Erinica, who chose to wear a white tank top and a Gothic black knee high skirt, with black stockings and white stripped boots.
Masaki noticed Ally's stare and recognized that her best friend was staring at her younger half-sister.
"Eh? What's wrong? Ally?"
"Ah. Nothing. Is everybody ready to go?"
At this, Meiko thought she saw a brief twinkle in Masaki's eyes as the most hyperactive girl ran to the door.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
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Soft music played in the background when Nathan and Thomas had just finished decorating the tables. The guys were ordered by Nathan to make sure everything was fit into the mood while they anxiously waited for the girls. Hunter was busy stringing up the last of the balloons with his brother's help, Carl was setting the music as to make sure it played the right kind of music at the right time with Russell's assistance. Eduardo was gelling up his hair to make himself more presentable, ignoring his captain whining in the background.
"Why can't I dance with the girls too?? It's so not fair that all of you guys get to dance while I have to sit OUTSIDE keeping watch! I'm the captain!"
"I highly doubt that captains whine. Don't you agree, Christopher?"
The tall, black doctor entered the bathroom and greeted the two with his usual smile. He paused in his journey to one of the stalls and replied:
"Yes. But, I'm sure Captain Morgan will get a chance someday. No?"
With that, the once proud Captain Morgan was left crying by himself.
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At the strike of 8 PM, the guys neatly lined themselves up in a straight line before the opened doors. The girls will passed through the hallway and the giant doors before reaching their destination where their partners were currently waiting. Some of the guys, like Hunter and his brother Gordon, were nervously gulping their lump of fear down their throat, while a minority of them, like Eduardo and Russell, confidently stood side by side with plenty of assurance in them. The rest, like Nathan and Christopher, waited as a gentlemen when the girls came in.
Carl's eyes nearly popped out at the sight of Masaki running at top speed towards the food, flashing her inner garments unintentionally as she sprinted with excitement. Hunter couldn't help but face palmed at the silliness shown by Masaki when it comes to food. Erinica then walked into the room with a very irritated expression donning her face, when suddenly tree vines sprouted from the ground and caught her older half-sister by her ankles, successfully holding the older girl in place as the half-Japanese, half-Norwegian girl struggled to break free.
"Hey! Eri! Let me go! I wanna eat-! Gah! Stop pulling-! Eriiiiii!!!! Ask your plants to stop dragging MEEEEEEEE-!!"
In the midst of the yelling and shrieks, which Erinica learned to tune out whenever her sister gets into one of her moods, Ally and Juliana stepped into the room after them. Meiko soon followed the two girls who were cat walking into the hall.
At this point of time, the guys had begun to approached the girls they were after, but each for different purposes. Hunter and Eduardo each let out a long-suffering sigh as they rushed towards Masaki who managed to get out from the vines and began to stalk towards her destination- the pile of food on the beautifully decorated tables. Both Hunter and Eduardo each grabbed Masaki's arm and pulled her away from the mouth-watering food. They turned to each other, with Eduardo talking to Hunter in a very exasperated tone:
"For now, we will place aside the differences between us and focus on her."
"Right."
"Hunter? Eduardo? What are you guys planning? H-H-Hey! LET GO OF ME!!!! ERI!!! YOUR HALF-BROTHER AND HUNTER ARE KIDNAPPING ME!!! HELP-!"
With one of the girls gone (For good, thank God), Meiko mentally wished Masaki good luck, 'Cos she'll really need it', stepped out of the room and into the garden when a pair of strong arms encircled her. She yelped in shock, which she then relaxed almost spontaneously when she realized who had embraced her.
"Nathan. You are really mean."
Nathan smirked and released his girlfriend from his hug, looking almost like a Chesire cat talking to Alice.
"Not really. You love me this way."
Rolling her eyes in feign exasperation, Meiko tip-toed and kissed her boyfriend on the lips. They had nobody to deal with, with majority of the guys fighting over the remaining girls.
Back into the room, there was only one sentence to describe the situation: It was fun to watch the simply chaotic ordeal with popcorn as a side dish. Erinica had to fend herself from Russell AND Gordon, the latter being over-assertive in pushing Russell away from his mistress. Ally was giggling at Carl's and Thomas's antics at trying to win her heart, while Juliana was busy looking for a certain someone with Christopher's help.
"Chris! Did you see Yu-Liang?"
Juliana anxiously looking around the room, wondering where could the former enemy archer be. Christopher also looked around for the young lad, his height an added advantage for searching the missing Asian guy.
"Let's split up and look for him: I'll take the halls, you search the outside."
With a reluctant yet obedient nod, Juliana hurried out of the ballroom into the garden.
She passed by Meiko and Nathan, who were chatting away on a bench amongst a garden of flowers. She approached them and asked them for help, which had Nathan thinking for a moment before he answered.
"Try checking the training grounds. He might be there."
Answered Nathan, as he pointed to the woods behind Juliana. The training was not that far, Juliana recalled, while she thanked the two and left them alone together.
Back to our favourite heroine, Masaki was currently pouting on a ground, arms crossed her chest and dress dirtied from struggling with her two guy friends. In a corner, Eduardo was seen wiping off the blood on his cheeks, an evidence from Masaki punching his face. It was a good thing he turned in time to avoid the full force of the blow, otherwise his face might be disfigured or so. Hunter, was not as fortunate as Eduardo. The poor dude was kicked in the ribs once, feet stomped on not once but trice, and his right arm was twisted in the most painful way. He was gritting his teeth when Eduardo took pity on him and rearranged his arm the right way. His saviour was, as of now, leaning against the wall of an unknown room breathing steady as always. The room was dark, Eduardo decided to not turn on the lights, and the windows were open slightly ajar for the night wind to blow in. Moonlight streamed into the room, basking Masaki and leaving her glowing under the light.
Hunter noticed the weariness in the girl, and settled for shifting his position so he sat next to Masaki with extreme care as to not agitate her. She showed extreme hunger and anger, something reflected in her eyes when she noticed Hunter sitting closer to her. She exhaled loudly, shifting a bit to the left, allowing her friend to scoot to her right. Eduardo remained leaning against the wall, staring unfazed at the bed situated where Masaki now lean against.
"...Masaki? Are you hurt?"
Hunter asked worriedly. It wasn't a good sign when the girl is quiet. Eduardo held his breath, his right hand slowly reaching for his gun in fear of further violence inflicted on the guy. A brief intake of air was heard, alongside with a feminine voice replying.
"I'm sorry for hurting you guys. I'm fine though." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Trained like a guy since the age of 6 to deal with this kind of stuff. Can I go outside and eat now? I'm kinda hungry."
Both men relaxed immediately at the tone of their female friend. Now that she's fine, it was time for a different thing all together.
"Let's wait a bit longer. It's quite... Messy outside at the moment."
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Juliana huffed and held onto a nearby tree while she gasped for air. It took her quite sometime to pin-point her destination. After several wrong turns, she arrived at the silent as the cemetery-training ground with the good mindset of looking for her crush. Even though she kept looking about, she could still not see Yu-Liang. Until she stumbled upon a broken arrow did she managed to find him. Yu-Liang was standing in front of a tree that had a singular red dot in the centre of the tree bark. Several arrows encircled the dot, only one poisonous-tipped arrow was embedded at the dot. She watched from her hiding place, her first time seeing him so tense and so troubled.
"... Come out here."
Jolting at his commanding and harsh voice, Juliana meekly stood up and slowly walked towards him. Guilt and worry were plastered on her face like it was meant to be there, but nevertheless she still went close to him.
His stern gaze had her words caught in her throat. No sound was heard except for the soft breathing made by the two of them. Yu-Liang broke the seemingly endless silence that Juliana almost ran away from its heaviness.
"What are you doing here? Looking for the tall guy? He's in the ballroom, not here." Yu-Liang turned his back on her. "Go back. Masaki will be pissed if she knew you were here with-"
"What's so wrong being with the person you like?!"
Yu-Liang looked up, for a second Juliana could've seen shock in his eyes, yet that expression changed back to his default look- the usual blank with no care about nobody kind of look- instantly.
Juliana was on the verge of bursting into tears. Usually, it was Ally who would tear up in this kind of situation, leaving Masaki to do the job of whacking people (literally) into their senses by force (no pun intended) and with Juliana dealing with the result of everything else.
"I-I-I-I-" Oh god. Now she's stuttering. Juliana felt her cheeks turning crimson like a ripe tomato as she continued. "I l-lo-love y-you you IDIOT!!!"
And she pounced onto him in the disguise of a bear hug.
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"Guys..."
Ally pulled the wrestling Thomas away from the smirking triumphantly Carl, right before they started a fight in front of her. It was a good thing that Masaki taught her some self-defense tactics, Ally thought, otherwise Thomas would be on a stretcher sooner than she think.
"Ally! I-I-" Thomas was cut off by Carl who, suddenly, appeared in front of him and block him from talking face-to-face to Ally. "Well? Shall we dance, mon Cher?" Offering a hand to Ally, Carl gracefully bowed and gave his charming smile. He had won Ally, not even Thomas will have her. He grin inwardly to himself, for he has the most beautiful lady in the world before him.
"Carl..." Ally giggled at his antics, slipping her hand in his as the two began to dance to the slow music playing in the background. Thomas, dejectedly left the two happy couple dancing on the dance floor and made his way out of the room, not even bothered to consume any food.
In the midst of this, Masaki was now skipping towards the room with Eduardo and Hunter quietly following her. By now, she was absolutely starving, and was ready to eat everything on the table. She paused when she saw Thomas running passed her in tears.
"Isn't that... Thomas? Why's he crying?" Eduardo couldn't help but utter yet another sigh at the sight of Masaki's puzzled expression. 'She surely is dense...' Hunter thought as he listened to Eduardo explaining to Masaki.
"He got rejected by Ally. Ally must have chosen Carl."
"Eh?! No way! Ally wouldn't reject him! Wait... What's going on anyway? Isn't this some kind of party? Why was he rejected?"
Masaki exclaimed. What in the world was going on that she had missed??
"..." An uncomfortable and embarrassing silence passed over the two guys. The two were immediately reminded about the fight to win Masaki's heart. Yet, before the two could even say a word, Masaki turned and faced them with the most stern expression in her whole life, saying:
"I don't know what's really going on, but! I don't want to choose one of you and reject the other for any silly reasons. So the three of us will stick together despite the others rejected and the rejecting, deal?"
Masaki linked her left arm with Hunter's and linked her right arm with Eduardo's, beaming at the two before dragging the duo off.
"Besides! I'm starving, you don't want me to start eating you guys, do you? Let's hurry before the food runs out!"
And so, the three set off for the food.
Just to witness Gordon wrestling Russell on the floor with Erinica calmly sipping her beverage at a corner.
"Er... Sis? What just happen?"
"Oh. Nothing I can't handle."
Masaki looked from Erinica to the two guys on the floor, back to Erinica, then to Hunter and Eduardo before she uttered:
"Well? What are you two standing there looking at me for? Let's join in the wrestle!"
Said Masaki as she delivered a punch at Russell and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of Gordon and Russell, leaving Hunter and Eduardo to pry the trio away from each other.
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Outside of the compound, there sat Morgan sighing, his head lifted towards the night sky as he mumbled:
"Why is my life so unfair? Darn! I wish I was younger or so..."
"Why, look who's here! If it isn't the proud Captain Morgan himself. "
Morgan lowered his head, nearly scream at the closeness of his face from Alan's face. Alan smirked, standing back upright as he dusted himself from imaginary dust. Both Captains had a minor stand-off, before Morgan broke off the eye contact and spoke:
"I wonder... What happened back then, that changed the both of us so much? From friends," Alan scoffed, and sat down next to him as Morgan ignored him and continued. "To enemies. I mean, look at us! Back when we were still under Captain Boris, we were best buddies. Me, the loud and fun guy, and you, the shy and sly dude who prefers to read books over partying with the rest of the crew. "
"And what do you THINK had happen that changed the both of us then?"
A brief and familiar silence settled over the two. They were the two newest members on board of 'The Ferocious Monster', commandeered by their beloved Captain Boris. They still remembered his stern yet caring gaze when Captain Boris's first mate, Schmidt, lectured them on setting off a series of fireworks in one of the crew's wardrobe. The two of them ended up being dunked and their mouth thoroughly clean with soap water while they cleared up the mess they made. Morgan still remembered Alan throwing a dirty rag at him, starting a chase around the ship before earning yet another lecture from Schmidt.
Few months passed after Alan's and Morgan's recruitment, 'The Ferocious Monster' had an unpleasant encounter with a Navy ship, with majority of the crew dead and the rest arrested. Captain Boris was among the remainders captured, but him being the captain, he offered himself in exchange of the freedom of his crew members. Alan, Morgan and the rest launch a rescue attempt to save their captain from facing death, which failed due to Morgan unable to shoot one of the female officers. Alan and Morgan, with their last ounce of strength, fled the scene and sustaining several injuries.
Alan had ever since held a grudge against Morgan, vowing to take the other's life held responsible for the death of the Captain's and the crew's. After many attempts at killing his friend was unsuccessful, Alan decided to destroy anyone else that Morgan befriended and cherished. Once more, after encounters with Erinica (the girl he nearly rape) and Masaki (the sister of Erinica who had physically rendered him paralysed for nearly raping her sister), he now begrudgingly is now friends with Morgan, though both are still healing from the incident.
"Hey... I... I just wanna say," Morgan started while he turned towards Alan. "I'm... Really sorry for what happened back then. Will you... Will you forgive me?"
Alan laughed.
"I'm sorry too. All these years, the attempts of ending your life, I should be apologising to you instead." Stretching out his right hand, Alan continued. "Friends?"
Morgan grinned, reaching out his right hand as well before shaking his rival's, Friend's, hand.
"Friends. Though I'll punch you if you harassed any of the girls."
Alan gave back another identical, if not familiar, grin he used to give when he was much younger.
"Sure. But, Fingers crossed."
"Hey! You twerp!"
A chorus of laughter rang through the night sky, several night birds took flight as laughter continued. Everyone was satisfied: Masaki finally getting to eat, but not before kissing her two best sidekicks (Hunter and Eduardo) on their cheeks before digging into her pile of food; Erinica allowing her two admirers resting in her room despite Masaki's and Hunter's objections; Carl apologising to Thomas, whilst Ally watched the two with a smile; Christopher finally found Yu-Liang hugging Juliana, the three heading off to a park Juliana had discovered on her journey in search of Yu-Liang; Meiko dozing off on Nathan's shoulders, Nathan finally giving into the beckoning of sleep.
All's well, Ends well.
FIN
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A/N: YES! Finally! This story was kinda fun to write, it was nice until it last. Well, reviews are loved as always! :D
A/N: Sorry for the wait! This is part two of The Valentine's Day story. Hope you like this! :D
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Long streams of squeals and shrieks came from Ally's room. 5 girls were busy giving their last minute preparation for the last two hours. The only long, black haired girl sat quietly in a corner watching her seniors (And her older half-sister) bickering and putting on make up. Said half-sister then turn and shove her entire attention on her, speaking in Japanese as she twirled around in her flowery dress Ally had chose for her.
"Eri~! How do I look in this dress?? Should I get something else instead? Oh wow! You're already dressed for tonight!!" Masaki stared in wonder at her younger sister, turning her head to look at every angle of Erinica. "So? What do you think?"
In actual fact, Eri thought to herself, her sister does look nice in that dress of hers. The only problem is that it did not suit the occasion. "It looks nice on you." Eri chose not to point out the fact and instead complimented her elder half-sister.
Masaki beamed, before she skipped towards Juliana and helped the red haired girl with her belt. Said girl wore a red fiery checkered dress complimenting the colour of her hair, and a black belt around her waist, showing off her slim figure. Juliana had on a pair of brown rugged boots, which she proceeded to strut about in search of a cowboy hat.
"Ally! Do you have a hat? Or more specifically, a cowboy hat?"
"My goodness! Juliana! Whatever for?"
As the two girls bickered with each other, Meiko was silently placing her lip gloss in extreme care as not to get it on the rest of her face. Unlike the rest, she wore a long white dress that had multiple patterns of white roses, with a crown made of dried flowers on her head. She had no shoes on at the moment, Erinica observed and momentarily pondered the choice of shoes to go with the girl's dress. Her gaze fell on a pair of brownish orange stripes sandals near the chair she was sitting on.
"Meiko."
Meiko, at the call of her name, placed down the lip gloss on the 'make-up' counter and turned to face Masaki's sister, Erinica. She slowly got up, walked past Ally and Juliana, apologized to Masaki for accidentally bumping into her, and stopped in front of Eri. Her questioning expression was answered when she realized the pair of sandals beside the younger girl. She smiled at it and bend to pick up the sandals with Erinica watching her movement.
"Thank you, Erinica. That was very thoughtful of you."
"It was nothing much. But, you're welcome."
Eri shrugged at the comment, but said nothing more when she caught Ally eyeing her attire. Ally was wearing a pink spaghetti gown, a grand necklace with a thumb-size sapphire crystal matched with a pair of sapphire stud earrings, and a glass slipper was what Ally had. In contrast to Erinica, who chose to wear a white tank top and a Gothic black knee high skirt, with black stockings and white stripped boots.
Masaki noticed Ally's stare and recognized that her best friend was staring at her younger half-sister.
"Eh? What's wrong? Ally?"
"Ah. Nothing. Is everybody ready to go?"
At this, Meiko thought she saw a brief twinkle in Masaki's eyes as the most hyperactive girl ran to the door.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
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Soft music played in the background when Nathan and Thomas had just finished decorating the tables. The guys were ordered by Nathan to make sure everything was fit into the mood while they anxiously waited for the girls. Hunter was busy stringing up the last of the balloons with his brother's help, Carl was setting the music as to make sure it played the right kind of music at the right time with Russell's assistance. Eduardo was gelling up his hair to make himself more presentable, ignoring his captain whining in the background.
"Why can't I dance with the girls too?? It's so not fair that all of you guys get to dance while I have to sit OUTSIDE keeping watch! I'm the captain!"
"I highly doubt that captains whine. Don't you agree, Christopher?"
The tall, black doctor entered the bathroom and greeted the two with his usual smile. He paused in his journey to one of the stalls and replied:
"Yes. But, I'm sure Captain Morgan will get a chance someday. No?"
With that, the once proud Captain Morgan was left crying by himself.
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At the strike of 8 PM, the guys neatly lined themselves up in a straight line before the opened doors. The girls will passed through the hallway and the giant doors before reaching their destination where their partners were currently waiting. Some of the guys, like Hunter and his brother Gordon, were nervously gulping their lump of fear down their throat, while a minority of them, like Eduardo and Russell, confidently stood side by side with plenty of assurance in them. The rest, like Nathan and Christopher, waited as a gentlemen when the girls came in.
Carl's eyes nearly popped out at the sight of Masaki running at top speed towards the food, flashing her inner garments unintentionally as she sprinted with excitement. Hunter couldn't help but face palmed at the silliness shown by Masaki when it comes to food. Erinica then walked into the room with a very irritated expression donning her face, when suddenly tree vines sprouted from the ground and caught her older half-sister by her ankles, successfully holding the older girl in place as the half-Japanese, half-Norwegian girl struggled to break free.
"Hey! Eri! Let me go! I wanna eat-! Gah! Stop pulling-! Eriiiiii!!!! Ask your plants to stop dragging MEEEEEEEE-!!"
In the midst of the yelling and shrieks, which Erinica learned to tune out whenever her sister gets into one of her moods, Ally and Juliana stepped into the room after them. Meiko soon followed the two girls who were cat walking into the hall.
At this point of time, the guys had begun to approached the girls they were after, but each for different purposes. Hunter and Eduardo each let out a long-suffering sigh as they rushed towards Masaki who managed to get out from the vines and began to stalk towards her destination- the pile of food on the beautifully decorated tables. Both Hunter and Eduardo each grabbed Masaki's arm and pulled her away from the mouth-watering food. They turned to each other, with Eduardo talking to Hunter in a very exasperated tone:
"For now, we will place aside the differences between us and focus on her."
"Right."
"Hunter? Eduardo? What are you guys planning? H-H-Hey! LET GO OF ME!!!! ERI!!! YOUR HALF-BROTHER AND HUNTER ARE KIDNAPPING ME!!! HELP-!"
With one of the girls gone (For good, thank God), Meiko mentally wished Masaki good luck, 'Cos she'll really need it', stepped out of the room and into the garden when a pair of strong arms encircled her. She yelped in shock, which she then relaxed almost spontaneously when she realized who had embraced her.
"Nathan. You are really mean."
Nathan smirked and released his girlfriend from his hug, looking almost like a Chesire cat talking to Alice.
"Not really. You love me this way."
Rolling her eyes in feign exasperation, Meiko tip-toed and kissed her boyfriend on the lips. They had nobody to deal with, with majority of the guys fighting over the remaining girls.
Back into the room, there was only one sentence to describe the situation: It was fun to watch the simply chaotic ordeal with popcorn as a side dish. Erinica had to fend herself from Russell AND Gordon, the latter being over-assertive in pushing Russell away from his mistress. Ally was giggling at Carl's and Thomas's antics at trying to win her heart, while Juliana was busy looking for a certain someone with Christopher's help.
"Chris! Did you see Yu-Liang?"
Juliana anxiously looking around the room, wondering where could the former enemy archer be. Christopher also looked around for the young lad, his height an added advantage for searching the missing Asian guy.
"Let's split up and look for him: I'll take the halls, you search the outside."
With a reluctant yet obedient nod, Juliana hurried out of the ballroom into the garden.
She passed by Meiko and Nathan, who were chatting away on a bench amongst a garden of flowers. She approached them and asked them for help, which had Nathan thinking for a moment before he answered.
"Try checking the training grounds. He might be there."
Answered Nathan, as he pointed to the woods behind Juliana. The training was not that far, Juliana recalled, while she thanked the two and left them alone together.
Back to our favourite heroine, Masaki was currently pouting on a ground, arms crossed her chest and dress dirtied from struggling with her two guy friends. In a corner, Eduardo was seen wiping off the blood on his cheeks, an evidence from Masaki punching his face. It was a good thing he turned in time to avoid the full force of the blow, otherwise his face might be disfigured or so. Hunter, was not as fortunate as Eduardo. The poor dude was kicked in the ribs once, feet stomped on not once but trice, and his right arm was twisted in the most painful way. He was gritting his teeth when Eduardo took pity on him and rearranged his arm the right way. His saviour was, as of now, leaning against the wall of an unknown room breathing steady as always. The room was dark, Eduardo decided to not turn on the lights, and the windows were open slightly ajar for the night wind to blow in. Moonlight streamed into the room, basking Masaki and leaving her glowing under the light.
Hunter noticed the weariness in the girl, and settled for shifting his position so he sat next to Masaki with extreme care as to not agitate her. She showed extreme hunger and anger, something reflected in her eyes when she noticed Hunter sitting closer to her. She exhaled loudly, shifting a bit to the left, allowing her friend to scoot to her right. Eduardo remained leaning against the wall, staring unfazed at the bed situated where Masaki now lean against.
"...Masaki? Are you hurt?"
Hunter asked worriedly. It wasn't a good sign when the girl is quiet. Eduardo held his breath, his right hand slowly reaching for his gun in fear of further violence inflicted on the guy. A brief intake of air was heard, alongside with a feminine voice replying.
"I'm sorry for hurting you guys. I'm fine though." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Trained like a guy since the age of 6 to deal with this kind of stuff. Can I go outside and eat now? I'm kinda hungry."
Both men relaxed immediately at the tone of their female friend. Now that she's fine, it was time for a different thing all together.
"Let's wait a bit longer. It's quite... Messy outside at the moment."
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Juliana huffed and held onto a nearby tree while she gasped for air. It took her quite sometime to pin-point her destination. After several wrong turns, she arrived at the silent as the cemetery-training ground with the good mindset of looking for her crush. Even though she kept looking about, she could still not see Yu-Liang. Until she stumbled upon a broken arrow did she managed to find him. Yu-Liang was standing in front of a tree that had a singular red dot in the centre of the tree bark. Several arrows encircled the dot, only one poisonous-tipped arrow was embedded at the dot. She watched from her hiding place, her first time seeing him so tense and so troubled.
"... Come out here."
Jolting at his commanding and harsh voice, Juliana meekly stood up and slowly walked towards him. Guilt and worry were plastered on her face like it was meant to be there, but nevertheless she still went close to him.
His stern gaze had her words caught in her throat. No sound was heard except for the soft breathing made by the two of them. Yu-Liang broke the seemingly endless silence that Juliana almost ran away from its heaviness.
"What are you doing here? Looking for the tall guy? He's in the ballroom, not here." Yu-Liang turned his back on her. "Go back. Masaki will be pissed if she knew you were here with-"
"What's so wrong being with the person you like?!"
Yu-Liang looked up, for a second Juliana could've seen shock in his eyes, yet that expression changed back to his default look- the usual blank with no care about nobody kind of look- instantly.
Juliana was on the verge of bursting into tears. Usually, it was Ally who would tear up in this kind of situation, leaving Masaki to do the job of whacking people (literally) into their senses by force (no pun intended) and with Juliana dealing with the result of everything else.
"I-I-I-I-" Oh god. Now she's stuttering. Juliana felt her cheeks turning crimson like a ripe tomato as she continued. "I l-lo-love y-you you IDIOT!!!"
And she pounced onto him in the disguise of a bear hug.
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"Guys..."
Ally pulled the wrestling Thomas away from the smirking triumphantly Carl, right before they started a fight in front of her. It was a good thing that Masaki taught her some self-defense tactics, Ally thought, otherwise Thomas would be on a stretcher sooner than she think.
"Ally! I-I-" Thomas was cut off by Carl who, suddenly, appeared in front of him and block him from talking face-to-face to Ally. "Well? Shall we dance, mon Cher?" Offering a hand to Ally, Carl gracefully bowed and gave his charming smile. He had won Ally, not even Thomas will have her. He grin inwardly to himself, for he has the most beautiful lady in the world before him.
"Carl..." Ally giggled at his antics, slipping her hand in his as the two began to dance to the slow music playing in the background. Thomas, dejectedly left the two happy couple dancing on the dance floor and made his way out of the room, not even bothered to consume any food.
In the midst of this, Masaki was now skipping towards the room with Eduardo and Hunter quietly following her. By now, she was absolutely starving, and was ready to eat everything on the table. She paused when she saw Thomas running passed her in tears.
"Isn't that... Thomas? Why's he crying?" Eduardo couldn't help but utter yet another sigh at the sight of Masaki's puzzled expression. 'She surely is dense...' Hunter thought as he listened to Eduardo explaining to Masaki.
"He got rejected by Ally. Ally must have chosen Carl."
"Eh?! No way! Ally wouldn't reject him! Wait... What's going on anyway? Isn't this some kind of party? Why was he rejected?"
Masaki exclaimed. What in the world was going on that she had missed??
"..." An uncomfortable and embarrassing silence passed over the two guys. The two were immediately reminded about the fight to win Masaki's heart. Yet, before the two could even say a word, Masaki turned and faced them with the most stern expression in her whole life, saying:
"I don't know what's really going on, but! I don't want to choose one of you and reject the other for any silly reasons. So the three of us will stick together despite the others rejected and the rejecting, deal?"
Masaki linked her left arm with Hunter's and linked her right arm with Eduardo's, beaming at the two before dragging the duo off.
"Besides! I'm starving, you don't want me to start eating you guys, do you? Let's hurry before the food runs out!"
And so, the three set off for the food.
Just to witness Gordon wrestling Russell on the floor with Erinica calmly sipping her beverage at a corner.
"Er... Sis? What just happen?"
"Oh. Nothing I can't handle."
Masaki looked from Erinica to the two guys on the floor, back to Erinica, then to Hunter and Eduardo before she uttered:
"Well? What are you two standing there looking at me for? Let's join in the wrestle!"
Said Masaki as she delivered a punch at Russell and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of Gordon and Russell, leaving Hunter and Eduardo to pry the trio away from each other.
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Outside of the compound, there sat Morgan sighing, his head lifted towards the night sky as he mumbled:
"Why is my life so unfair? Darn! I wish I was younger or so..."
"Why, look who's here! If it isn't the proud Captain Morgan himself. "
Morgan lowered his head, nearly scream at the closeness of his face from Alan's face. Alan smirked, standing back upright as he dusted himself from imaginary dust. Both Captains had a minor stand-off, before Morgan broke off the eye contact and spoke:
"I wonder... What happened back then, that changed the both of us so much? From friends," Alan scoffed, and sat down next to him as Morgan ignored him and continued. "To enemies. I mean, look at us! Back when we were still under Captain Boris, we were best buddies. Me, the loud and fun guy, and you, the shy and sly dude who prefers to read books over partying with the rest of the crew. "
"And what do you THINK had happen that changed the both of us then?"
A brief and familiar silence settled over the two. They were the two newest members on board of 'The Ferocious Monster', commandeered by their beloved Captain Boris. They still remembered his stern yet caring gaze when Captain Boris's first mate, Schmidt, lectured them on setting off a series of fireworks in one of the crew's wardrobe. The two of them ended up being dunked and their mouth thoroughly clean with soap water while they cleared up the mess they made. Morgan still remembered Alan throwing a dirty rag at him, starting a chase around the ship before earning yet another lecture from Schmidt.
Few months passed after Alan's and Morgan's recruitment, 'The Ferocious Monster' had an unpleasant encounter with a Navy ship, with majority of the crew dead and the rest arrested. Captain Boris was among the remainders captured, but him being the captain, he offered himself in exchange of the freedom of his crew members. Alan, Morgan and the rest launch a rescue attempt to save their captain from facing death, which failed due to Morgan unable to shoot one of the female officers. Alan and Morgan, with their last ounce of strength, fled the scene and sustaining several injuries.
Alan had ever since held a grudge against Morgan, vowing to take the other's life held responsible for the death of the Captain's and the crew's. After many attempts at killing his friend was unsuccessful, Alan decided to destroy anyone else that Morgan befriended and cherished. Once more, after encounters with Erinica (the girl he nearly rape) and Masaki (the sister of Erinica who had physically rendered him paralysed for nearly raping her sister), he now begrudgingly is now friends with Morgan, though both are still healing from the incident.
"Hey... I... I just wanna say," Morgan started while he turned towards Alan. "I'm... Really sorry for what happened back then. Will you... Will you forgive me?"
Alan laughed.
"I'm sorry too. All these years, the attempts of ending your life, I should be apologising to you instead." Stretching out his right hand, Alan continued. "Friends?"
Morgan grinned, reaching out his right hand as well before shaking his rival's, Friend's, hand.
"Friends. Though I'll punch you if you harassed any of the girls."
Alan gave back another identical, if not familiar, grin he used to give when he was much younger.
"Sure. But, Fingers crossed."
"Hey! You twerp!"
A chorus of laughter rang through the night sky, several night birds took flight as laughter continued. Everyone was satisfied: Masaki finally getting to eat, but not before kissing her two best sidekicks (Hunter and Eduardo) on their cheeks before digging into her pile of food; Erinica allowing her two admirers resting in her room despite Masaki's and Hunter's objections; Carl apologising to Thomas, whilst Ally watched the two with a smile; Christopher finally found Yu-Liang hugging Juliana, the three heading off to a park Juliana had discovered on her journey in search of Yu-Liang; Meiko dozing off on Nathan's shoulders, Nathan finally giving into the beckoning of sleep.
All's well, Ends well.
FIN
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A/N: YES! Finally! This story was kinda fun to write, it was nice until it last. Well, reviews are loved as always! :D
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