I hurry down the steps and over to the ball that had rolled over to the giant hedges that lined Pops' property. I picked it up and then turned back to the boys, "Catch!" And toss it back. Zoro leaps up from the pool and catches the ball with ease, "That was a powerful throw, you should join the game." "Oh, I don't know." I reply as I walk back over to the pool, "I feel like you guys would eat me alive; all much stronger than me." "Why don't we have a girls vs guys, finish off the Game Day properly." Ace suggests. "Are you prepared to lose again?" Nami asks, her hands on her hips, "Or did you forget who won the games to begin with?" She smirked mischievously. "Ah Nami, don't tease them. They have new players!" I whine as I grab her arm and shake it slightly, trying to get my point across. "Yeah, well, we have a few new players too." She explains, pointing over at the girls huddled over by the grill. There stood Boa, Robin, Tashigi, Bonney, Vivi, and Rebecca. I blink in surprise at how I completely missed the girls that joined us. The boys still out numbered us but we had quite a few powerhouses.

"How do I keep getting dragged into these situations?" I whine as I get into the pool and move over to my position. Just like always; the bets, punishment, and reward was blown out of proportion.
Reward was full bragging rights for a week. Punishment was losing team serves the winning team. Usopp had the ball and a whistle around his neck. He was acting referee. "Just harmless fun." Vivi smiled as she joined me in the water.
I was on the first girl team, along with Vivi, Nami, and Robin. The boys first team consisted of Zoro, Luffy, Killer, and Penguin. "Harmless?" I asked her, "Nothing is ever harmless." I shook my head, thinking back to all the other crazy rivalries that went on between this large group. "Alright guys," Usopp lifted the ball as everyone got ready, "You know the rules." "Maybe you should prepare medical." Brook whispered to Law, usually the games got way out of hand and someone always got hurt in one way or another. I stretched my arms above my head, "I do have a question: are we playing a normal volleyball game or are we just going until a certain amount of points?" Usopp rubs his chin, "That's a good point."
"How about we tap out at 20,000 points?" Killer suggested. The amount almost shocked me but then I remember that I'm friends with abnormally strong people.

I take a drink of my water bottle. The girls were down by a few thousand points. The men are stronger than us. I frown a bit. Was this game even fair to begin with? I glance over at who was playing at the moment. It was now Sanji, Shachi, Kid, and Smoker.
Sanji shifts in the water as he prepares to serve the ball when an idea struck me. I set down my bottle and walk over to the guys side of the pool. I waited just as Sanji threw the ball up into the air "Sanji-kun~" I drag out the syllables in his name and give him a wink when he looked in my direction. Immediately his focus switches from the game to my lame flirting attempt and he smacks the ball out of bounds.
"Hey, hey!" Kid growls, "Interference!" Usopp walks over "Interference?" He must have not been paying attention to what happened and I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know what he is talking about either." I turn to walk over to the other girls and they all nod or give me thumbs up for the idea. An arm wraps around my shoulders and I glance up to see Ace, "That was a pretty sneaky idea, Fi." "I don't know what your talking about." I smirk at him "Let's get something to eat, I'm hungry." "Ooh, good idea." He steers me over towards the finished food next to the grill. "So where is Pops anyway?" I ask as we start making our hamburgers. "He's off on a big case back around Marineford." Ace muttered through his mouthful of food. I roll my eyes at his sudden lack of manners before taking a bite of food, "Thanks." He stops his munching and looks at me, "For what??" "For everything today. This all really made me feel a lot better." I was referring back to the cafe where I had a panic attack. "Oh," He grins, "Anytime Fi!" He smacks my shoulder and I cough a little as the food in my mouth hit the back of my throat. "Don't kill me!" He just laughs loudly at my reaction. I huff as he laughs but relaxes in my seat as I look around at everyone. Everyone was chatting or hanging out as they gathered around the pool waiting to see what happens with the game. Robin's words from in the bathroom echo in my brain and I can't help the tears that begin to fall. "Fi? What's wrong??" Ace looks concerned, pausing his attack on food. I set my burger back down on my plate and rubbed the tears away, "Yeah, I'm okay." My voice shakes and he shifts to face me, "You know you can talk to me about anything." He takes my free hand to reassure me. "I'm just really happy." I give him a bright smile and he relaxes, pulling me into a hug. "That's good."

"Fae! Let's take a picture!" Nami calls out to me. "Kay!" I grin and grab Tashigi by her arm, dragging her over to the girl group that was gathered around the deck chairs and umbrella. The volleyball game was on time out as everyone stopped to eat and take a break. Both teams were pass 20,000 points but neither group wanted to give up. "Fae, what are you doing?" Tash asked as I brought her over, "We're taking pictures, is that okay??" "Uh sure?" She smiles as we join the girls. "Okay, tall in the back and short in the front." Nami was placing us in our spots. I stood in front of Robin with Tashigi by my side. We did a few different poses and we had each other laughing loudly.
Eventually Tashigi pulled me away to sit on a quieter end of the pool with our feet dangling in the water. Smoker walked over with a couple of beers, handing one to Tashigi before taking a seat. "This is what you've been up to for three years." The statement was innocent yet loaded. I glanced between the two before looking down at the water, "Well not originally." I kicked my legs just a bit, "At the beginning it wasn't all parties..."

~Flashback 3 years ago~
I looked down at the card that had the address on it and then looked back up at the mansion in front of me. "It matches." I wandered slowly over to the buzzer by the gate and pressed it. It made a sound and then the intercom spoke, "Yes?" "Mister Newgate told Fae to meet him here." "Of course, come right in." The voice replied, another buzzer sounded and then the gates opened. I walked down the long driveway that was lined with smaller hedges. The mansion's shadow swallowed me the closer I got. Once on the front porch, I reached forward to knock on the door. As soon as my fist made contact, the door was jerked open to reveal a young lanky man with ebony hair. He wore a red vest and blue short pants. He grinned widely "Hi! I'm Monkey D. Luffy!" "Hello, I'm Fae." I replied a bit timid. His loud energy caught me off guard and I wasn't sure how to feel. He grabbed my hand and started to pull me inside, "You're just in time for breakfast!" "Huh??" I was taken aback, stumbling as the young man jerked me into the house, through a hallway, a giant living room, and then we stopped in a huge kitchen. He tugged me over to the seats at the island. He turned to a tall blonde, who was reaching up into a cabinet to retrieve a coffee mug, "Marco! What's for breakfast? I'm starving!" The man, now known as Marco, glanced back at both of us with a warm smile, "I dunno, ask Thatch." "Where is he??" Luffy asked and took off like a rocket once he received his answer. I blinked in surprise at his energy before turning back to Marco, giving him an uneasy smile. He wore a purple shirt that was unbuttoned, sort of showing off some sort of tattoo. He had a slight scruffy goatee/beard and just a regular pair of jeans. "You must be Fae." He began pouring coffee into his mug and I gave a nod, "Yes, that's me." "Pops told us about a young woman coming to get some help." He explained as he held up the coffee pot, "Would you like some?" "Oh, no, thank you." I shook my head, "Mr. Newgate told you about me?" "He sort of explained the situation." Marco walked over to join me at the island, leaning against it as he sipped his drink. "I assume that I am here to speak with Mr. Newgate but I was just dragged into the house." I tugged at my earlobe and glanced around the kitchen. I felt small and out of place. "Don't worry, I'm sure whatever it is that is troubling you will be fixed." Marco smiled at me and I scoffed, "I don't think my problems can be fixed." "That's not a very good attitude." A different voice spoke and I turned to see another ebony haired boy. He was buffer than Luffy; only knowing this because he didn't have a shirt on. On top of his head sat an orange cowboy hat that had beads and smiley faces on top. He wore a matching bead necklace and black short pants with what looked to be two belts looped around his waist. I crossed my arms over my chest, "Please do not lecture me on attitude. Hearing it another thousand times isn't going to change anything." He walked forward and took a seat next to me, ignoring my snappy reply, "My name is Ace." I deflated slightly at his carefree attitude, "I'm Fae." "That's a pretty name, it suits you." He smiled warmly and I took the pause to notice his freckles. "Uh, thank you." I turn back to Marco, "So where is Mr. New-" "Thatch left already." Luffy grumbled as he walks back into the room followed by a younger blonde; wearing more proper looking clothes and has an interesting scar upon his right eye. It looks like he got burned. "Oh hello there," The younger blonde smiles matches Ace's, "I'm Sabo, you must be Fae." "I am." I nod, "I guess that all of you are children of Mr. Newgate?" I glance at each one, everyone smiling with the same exact warmth. "Pops is known for adopting orphans." Marco breaks the gentle silence. "Oh." I hum as Sabo moves through the kitchen to start breakfast. Things were slowly piecing together. "Fae what's your story??" Ace asked as he turned on the bar stool to face me. "My story?" I repeat softly. "Pops asked you here for a reason, I was just curious on what that might be." He props his head up with his palm as his elbow rest on the island top. His doe eyes feels like they are staring through my body and straight into the depths of my soul. Alcohol. I need a drink.
I feel the muscles tensing in my body. "Ah..." I tug at my earlobe and try to take in a quiet breath. I can feel the anxiety building in my chest. "...I don't really have much of a story. Just trying to right a wrong." I tapped my thumb on my finger, trying to press to them that I didn't want to speak about it.
~end flashback~

"...not long after that I spoke with Pops and he invited me to move in, all expenses paid for a year, and worked my alcoholism into the ground." I answered, avoiding most of the major details. "I just got so busy with trying to stay on top of my problem that I forgot to message you guys." I look between the two, "I am sorry." Tashigi smiled, "It's okay." She hugged me close to her, "As long as it doesn't happen again. Where's your phone so I can add our numbers?" I pointed over to the table inside the house, "I set it on the pool table. The code is-" "1232, right?" Smoker interrupted and I turned to him, "How??" Tashigi went off to put in their numbers. "That's what your old password was. I recall you telling Tashigi the first time. Something about it meaning 'I love you 2'." He smirked as I blushed darkly and avoided eye contact, "It was a pick me up from myself when I was going through a high school rough patch." "Who's ready to continue the game??" Usopp called out to the whole party. "Oo, sounds like it's my turn again." I stand up and begin to stretch as I head over to my side of the court.