~Family Love Across the Sea~ (a 'One Piece' story) *Chapter 31*

~Chapter 31: The Competion Begins! A Farewell Song of Love?!~
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"Umm...Musician-san?" teared Twilight from her excited frenzy once they got to to the Kent Music Hall.
"Yessss?" Twilight sang, happily.
"Do you know what you are gonna sing?" Robin asked.
"Na? Of cour-" Twilight's face suddenly dropped as panic swept across her face, "OH NO! I'VE BEEN TO EXCITED, I DIDN'T THINK ABOUT A SONG!!" She snapped, panicing frantically now.

"Good job, Robin.." Cherry blinked as she tried to calm Twilight down, "You'll figure something out!"
"No! I need the perfect one!" Twilight said, "Maybe I could sing "Dear Friends"! No...Maybe "Apologize"! No...I know! I will sing "What Hurts the Most". No, That's not right, either! GAH!!" Twilight screamed frustrated as she kicked a wooden poll beside her in her anger, breaking it in the process. The entire crew took a step back, and Chopper, Tai and Usopp hid behind Cherry.

"S-Scary.." They gulped.
"Umm..Excuse me? Miss Twilight?" An older man's voice was heard from the Music Hall.
"NA?!" Twilight sneered at him. He was standing at the now open door of the Music Hall.
"Gah! W-Well...You can come in now...For the contest.." The men said lowly, terrified from Twilight at the moment.
"Ohh...OK.." Twilight calmed down as she returned to her happy self again, "I guess I'll figure out the song later~" Twilight said, as if her previous breakdown over the song was nothing. This made everyone, including the man, to anime fall.
"DON'T FREAK OUR LIKE THAT RIGHT OUT OF NOWHERE!!" The crew snapped at her.
"So let's go~" Twilight said, ignoring the crew, walking into the Hall.

"This is gonna be a LONG day.." Cherry sighed, rubbing her temples as the crew followed Twilight inside. They all stood there in utter amazement at the hall inside. It's old, worn-out age was obvious, however that did not take anything from its beauty. It was large and breath-taking; the hundreds of thousands seats were red velvet and with goldish metal around the seat cushions and they all had beautiful engravings, mostly of muscial things. The walls were toweringly tall and elegent, with small, fancy lamposts along the wall with bright lights. However, the stage, or the parts that were not covered with the curtains, was beautiful with is detailed engravings and gold designs.

"Beautiful, ain't it?" The man who had welcomed said, with people next to him were obviously other musicians. However, unlike Twilight, they seemed much more mature, elegent, serious and even professional about their music since they were all dressed in the finest clothes and each looked both more nervous and serious than the other, while Twilight was much more casual in her apperance and was barely nervous about the contest.

"Isn't it a bit early for the audience to be coming in?" One of the male musicians asked lowly.

"We aren't just the audience," Luffy answered, "Our Musician, Twilight, is entering the contest!" Luffy said proudly, pointing to Twilight who smiled.

"Your a musician?!" The same man excalimed in surprise and laughter.

"Why doesn't anyone beleive that I'm musician?!" Twilight asked the rhetorical question to the crew and they just blinked before she turned back to the man, "And YES I AM A MUSICIAN!!" She snapped at the man angerily, "GOSH!"

"VERY GOOD ONE AT THAT!!" Luffy also snapped, defending his crewmate.

"Well it is nice to see the competition is already getting heated up," the woman from the town who told the crew about the contest said, walking into the hall.

"You all have specific rooms where you all can get ready, you can all get your room numbers on the cards on the table over there with your name on it," She announced,"But your friends and whoever is with you cannot join you. That's the rules." The women said, mostly directing Twilight and the crew.
"Sorry guys, you can't come with me.." Twilight sighed to the crew.
"No problem!" Luffy grinned widly.

"We'll be waiting for you in the audeince~" Cherry smiled, encourgingly.
"You better win!" Nami said sweetly, but it did sound like a threat, "I-I mean, We need that prize~" Nami said and everyone got a sweatdrop.
"Break a leg, Twi," Sanji smiled, sweetly.
"NA?! But if I break a leg, then what would I use when fighting?" Twilight asked, dumbfoundedly, and everyone had a anime fall except Luffy.
"She has a point Sanji," Luffy said, equally as dumbfoundedly.

"HOW CAN BOTH OF YOU BE THAT STUPID?!" Usopp snapped.

"WELL! I SHOULD BE OFF!!" Twilight said as she turned on her heel and began marching to the table to find out her room number.

"LISTEN TO ME!!" Usopp snapped at her.
"Yep! That's our musician!" Luffy nodded proudly.

"Let's just leave her...Because it will be so worth it when she wins~!!" Nami sang with Beli signs in her eyes as she led the way to front row seats for her and the crew.

---

"Did you switch some of the official room numbers with those from..." A man, a competitor with blond hair and blue eyes, whispered to the brown-haired man next to him, another competitor, "...the fourth floor?" The man shuddered at the mention of it.
"Yep! When they see it, they will get so scared that they will leave and forget about the contest. I mean, that floor is absoultely terrifying, enough to make the strongest men run away." The second man whispered back.

"It is supposedly haunted by the previous musicians and such. Though elders say its just a myth, I still believe it, have you herd that strange muic that is always being played sometimes, I think its ghosts." The first man said.

"Na? Room 410? That's on the forth floor, right?" Twilight asked, interuppting their conversation.
"410?" The browned-haored one said, with a smirk on his face, "Yes, it is on the forth floor. But you be careful." The man continued, Twilight had obviously picked one of the fake room numbers made by the two men.
"Na? Umm..okay?" Twilight blinked as she followed the group of people up the stairs.

"I kinda feel sorry for the girl," The blonde man said once she was out of sight.

"Oh well, not like it was like she could have one anyway.." The other one simply shrugged.

---

"Up there is the forth floor?" Twilight blinked staring at the next flight of stairs, which were dark, creepy and covered in dust and cobwebs.

"N-No way am I going up there.." One of the competitors said as they ran away.

"So it's a bit scary, but why is everyone running away just because of it," Twilight blinked, "Ohh well...I guess I'll go.."
"That girl is insane. Doesn't she know that the entire floor is like haunted?!" One of the competitors screamed.
"That's what makes it exciting, you shithead," Twilight rolled her eyes as she began climbing the stairs.
"People these days, they see a few cobwebs and a dark room and-" Twilight was interuppted by a loud, low-pitched whistle, which seemed more like a howl, "And hear really creepy, random sounds coming from a floor that is supposed to be deserted, and everyone gets scared.." Twilight said with a gulp at the end.
"Ah shit...I'm gonna die before I get to sing..." Twilight said with fake tears, "This place really is scary as hell..." Twilight sighed before she heard another sound. this times a loud, uncoordinated notes of a piano shake through the floor. This time Twilight was able to find out where it was coming from because of her hieghtened sence of hearing as a musician, and it was ironically coming from her assigned room, 410.

"Great, just fuckin' great.." Twilight sighed as she slowly creeped the door open to reveal a large dressing room, which seemed to belong to a man, with various instruments in it. Then Twilight saw who wre making these "ghostly" sounds. A brown and white ferret was hoping around and oddly seemed to have knowledge about the instruments around him.

(A/N: The adorable, musically-talented ferret looks like:

Isn't he cute~ XD)

"A ferret was making all this trouble?" Twilight blinked as she walked inside, "But he is so cute~" Twilight said as she walked over to pet him, "I wonder what your name is, little guy.." Twilight said.
"Rame?! Rame is Odin!!" The ferret said, making Twilight jump.
"HOLY SHIT! YOU TALKED!!" Twilight blinked at him. And Odin could talk, though he had a speech impedement which made him start alot of his words with an "R", but he could oddly talk. (A/N: Think Scooby-Doo~ XD)

"Roly Rhit! Roly-" The ferret, who revealed himself as Odin, repeated before Twilight put a finger on his mouth.

"Don't repeat after me! If they see you cursing, they will blame me!" Twilight snapped but Odin only blinked at her, apathetically.
"I'm trying to teach manners to a talking ferret who doesn't even care...I've really gone crazy," Twilight sighed as the ferret playfully jumped on to her lap and snuggled closely to her.

"Then again, you are adorable~" Twilight smiled, "Even though you've been giving everyone a scare. What are you doing here anyway? Oh, I'm Twilight by the way." Twilight blinked.

"Hi Rwilight, I mean T-wilight! I'm Rodin, I mean O-din! I'm raiting for Rent, I mean K-ent," Odin said, as he corrected the name "Kent" with some trouble at the end.
"Kent?" Twilight blinked.
"RES! Kent reft a rong time ago...he was really rad when Rem, I mean J-em, reft, rhen I stopped reeing him because he stopping singing rere...I ron't know what rappened.." Odin said.
"Jem? You don't mean the pretty, angel Jem, do you?!" Twilight snapped at the mention of Jem's name.

"Res, res! Rangel Rem, Rangel Rem!!" Odin said as he jumped off Twilight and ran onto the cluttered and dusty desk and grabbed the notebook and handed it to Twilight who opened it to at first see a pictures of Jem and a very handsome man, with black, slightly messy hair and a red jacket:

"I'm guessing you took these, Odin," Twilight stared at Odin who innocently smiled.

"I used the rew camera Rent gave me~" Odin snickered as Twilight rolled her eyes and continued to read the book. It was this man's, Kent's, music book. Most of it were amazing lyrics written by him, alot of which were dedicated to Jem since he wrote so in a little description about his song. However, he stopped writing adrubtly for a while, around 3 months. He then wrote a new song, which was also the last song in the book, whose description caught Twilight's attention, since it seemed as if it was about Jem but at the same time it seemed that he didn't even know Jem:

Song Description: For once, I don't even know why I am writing this song nor to who. I think I feel happy, or supposed to feel happy...but something is wrong...missing. And I have no idea what. The words are just on the top of my head, the tips of my tongue and fingertips...I just have to write this song. I do not know exactly who I am dedicating it to, but I know that I write this song for them...

Twilight went on to read the lyrics to the song written by this man named Kent. As she finished the lyrics, not even she could hold back tears at the beautiful song. It was one of the most beautiful songs she had ever seen that would make anyone cry.

"Rani? Rhat's rong Rwilight?!" Odin snapped as he jumped on Twilight's lap, "Rou ok?!" Twilight wiped away the tears at her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Yeah...It's just..." Twilight paused as she looked back at the song, "I've decided what I want to sing." Twilight decided nodding her head...

---

Another roar of applause and cheers came from the audience once again for the musician who had just played.

"He was good!!" Luffy said clapping. He and the crew were seated front row and center of the hall and had watched over 10 musicians perform on stage, both good and bad, and they were waiting for Twilight's turn on stage.

"Luffy...You've said that about every single person that went up there..." Tai shook his head, "Wether they were good or bad.."
"Besides you shouldn't be cheering them on...you should only cheer for Twilight," Cherry pointed out.
"BECAUSE MY WONDERFUL SISTER SHALL BEAT ALL THESE SHITTY MUSICIANS!" Sanji said with fire burning in his eyes.

"What's with the sudden burst of passion and support for your sister?!" Usopp snapped.

"Mr. Cook-san doesn't like showing his love for his sister in front of her~" Robin rolled her eyes.

"AND SHE WILL MAKE US RICH!!" Nami also snapped passionatly, "But if she doesn't.." Nami suddenly said evily and scaringly.

"S-Scary..." Chopper, Usopp and Tai trembled.

"N-Now Nami, remember we aren't here for the money.." Cherry blinked.
"Yes we are!!" Nami said bluntly and Cherry had an anime fall.

"I wonder if Miss Twilight was able to choose a song..." Robin mumbled. Then an announcer went up one stage to introduce th next performer.

"Our last performance will be by the young lady musician, Twilight!" The announcer announced, an apploace followed.

"GO TWILIGHT!!" Luffy cheered loudly. However, there was a long silence that followed and Twilight did not climb up on stage, which startled everyone.

"Uhhh...M-Miss Twilight-san?" The announcer called behind the curtain.
"W-Where is she?!" Chopper snapped.

"NO! SHE CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!!" Nami screamed angerily, "I'll kill her! I'll make her walk the plank....I'll...I'll..UGH!!" Nami said furiously.
"What is she doing?! Writing a whole new song?!" Cherry snapped.

"Well...it seems Miss Twilight does not want to preform for-" The announcer was cut off by a girl's "Ahem".
"Sorry I'm late guys...I was making last minute changes on my new music.." Twilight smiled innocently.
"SHE DID WRITE A WHOLE NEW SONG?!" The crew had an anime fall.

"W-Well I guess the show will end with you..Now presenting Twilight!" The announcer said as he got off the stage and Twilight stood in the center behind the microphone with her guitar in hand.

"Hi! The words to this song are actually writting by a person you all know, Kent, the founder of this wonderful hall" Twilight said, her voice had a mixture of sympathy, excitement and care, and everyone looked both surprised yet pleased in a way,"And he dedicated this song to someone...a girl....No, an angel he loved very deeply.." Twilight said and looked and smiled at Jem, who by now felt as if she was going to cry but she only smiled back.

"It was the last one he ever wrote and never got to preform it...So I wrote my own music to his words...and I hope it will touch you like it did me.." Twilight nodded as she tuned her guitar and took a deep breath as she began playing and singing the song that was dedicated to the love of his life, Jem:

Song: Broken

Lyrics by: Kent

Music by: Twilight

(A/N: in real life it is by Seether and Amy Lee.)

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away
I keep your photograph; I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
Because I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away
You've gone away
You don't feel me here anymore
The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away
There’s so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain
Because I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
Because I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away
Because I’m broken when I’m open
And I don’t feel like I am strong enough
Because I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away
Because I’m broken when I’m lonesome
And I don’t feel right when you’re gone away
You've gone away
You don't feel me here anymore...

When she finished, there was not a dry eye in the entire room for Twilight sang the beautifully sad song with enough emotion to shake the strongest heart to tears. Everyone stood up and gave Twilight a standing ovation, the only one all night, and the sounds of sobbing tears over the song were mixed with the claps and cheers of the crowd. Even the Straw Hats, who had heard Twilight hundreds of times before, were hit by Twilight's song.
"T-That was beautiful.." Cherry choked abck a tear.
"Wow...She really is amazing.." Luffy sighed.

"Yeah.." Nami also sighed as she wiped a tear away. Ace simply smiled at Twilight's performance before hearing quiet, yet deep sobs beside him. He turned to see Jem with constant tears rolling down her face and her face flushed because of those tears; Ace had never seen anyone cry this much.

"J-Jem?!" Ace snapped but Jem only continued to cry. Ace tried to calm her down but she only threw herself at him and began crying in his chest.

"I miss him..so much..." She cried to herself.

Back on stage, after the commotion had quieted down, the announcer went back up to the stage, he himself flushed with emotion.

"After that extraordinary preformance, It is not a surprise who is the winner," He said and everyone clapped,"Our winner is Twilight and her song 'Broken'!" he said as he gave her a trophy and an envelop. Twilight bowed and said her thank yous quickly before jumping off stage to join her crew.

"YOU DID IT TWILIGHT!" Everyone cheered her and hugged her.

"Thanks~" Twilight smiled before she looked at Jem who was still sniffing a few tears with Ace shoulder around her reassuringly.. Twilight walked over to her and sat next to her.

"He really loved you, you know....All his songs were about you.." She whispered.
"I know.." Jem sniffed.

"You have some explaining to do...to me at least.." Twilight said.

"I know.." Jem nodded.

"But let's not worry about that now...Besides.." Twilight said before lowering her voice once,"You got Ace, now~"

"N-NANI?!!!" Jem suddenly snapped.
"Well...I shall go play some more music!" Twilight said as she got up and went back on stage to preform a few songs for the crowd.

"Thanks Twilight..." Jem sighed and smiled before she turned her head to see Ace had fallen asleep, but this time she did not wake him up.

"You too, Ace.." Jem smiled warmly again...

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~To Be Continued...~