Today, the Straw Hat Pirates, led by Straw Hat Luffy, and several other captains of assorted pirate crews—whose names Annie couldn't remember and didn't care to learn—had fought a battle outside the auction house against a group of Marines who had been prepared for them!
The battle didn't last long. The Marines had nothing more formidable than swords, muskets, and mortars, and the Marine admiral who was supposedly coming to take charge was taking his sweet time getting there. So Luffy and the other pirate captains soon broke through the encirclement with ease and fled in different directions.
After the battle, the Marines had nothing to show for their efforts except casualties and losses!
Of course, that wasn't entirely true.
At least, after the pirates "escaped," the Marines had managed to "rescue" the two high-ranking hostages, Saint Rosward and Charlos, who had been taken hostage. They'd accomplished their tactical objective, after all, and scored a modest little victory, right?
However...
If things had ended there, it would at least have been a somewhat happy outcome for everyone. But just as the Marines were about to clean up the wreckage of the battlefield, they were astonished to find a little girl standing unharmed at the auction house entrance.
"Um..."
?(ˊ?????ˋ)
"Hello, uncles! How are you all?"
(*^▽^*)
That's right. Annie hadn't gone with Luffy and the others when they escaped on those Flying Fish.
Even after everyone—including the other pirate captains—had successfully broken through and fled, she'd stayed right where she was, taking her time and watching the commotion as if none of it had anything to do with her. And when she was spotted, she'd even raised a hand in a cute little wave and greeted the Marines, who were staring at her in bewilderment.
"What?"
"Why is there still