Cayxia ran as fast as she could through the throng of fighting pirates and marines. She could see him there 100 feet in front of her, she yelled out to him but her words were lost in the cacophony of the battle. "Ace I'm coming, you can't leave me! I love you please I don't think I can go on without you!"
Her breath was leaving her in labored pants. She was so close, only fifty feet more, if only she had Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Mi powers instead of her own Hei Hei no Mi. She shook her head and put on a boost of speed. He turned his head and found her eyes right as she threw her hand out and caught his fingers. Behind her was Luffy, reaching to join the two of them. They struggled to undo Ace's cuffs, and as soon as they hit the ground Cayxia grabbed his hands threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to the corner of his mouth before turning quickly to run.

Ace saw the mop of flaming red from his peripheral vision but was trying to deny the fact that his wife and little brother had really just broken into Marinford to try to save him. Each step he saw her take brought them that much closer together. As she drew closer part of him wanted to shout with joy, here she was and she still loved him, the other part of him wanted to scream at her, demand that she leave, she would die if she stayed here. She couldn't die, not here, not for him…
He finally couldn't keep his eyes away from her anymore his black eyes found her blue ones and as soon as their eyes locked he could feel her ice reaching out for him the chill in the air becoming palpable. Her hand shot out to him and she caught his fingers he reveled in difference of their body temperatures his now natural heat from the Mera Mera no Mi and her frozen touch from her own Hei Hei no Mi. Not long after Luffy was there at her side and the two began to remove the cuffs from around his wrists. He heard them hit the ground and at almost the same moment felt his wife press against him before grabbing his hand and running.
He felt a change in the air, heard Sakazuki coming up behind them. He had no doubt about what was about to happen, so he pulled himself to a hard stop and yanked Cayxia into him, he crashed his lips to his wife's and held her against him, knowing this would be the last time he did so. Pulling back from the kiss he smiled at Cayxia put his hands on her shoulders and shoved her away. If he was going to lose her he was going to do his damnest to make sure she was still safe. He turned and took a punch of magma straight through the gut. The smile never left his lips even as he felt the last of his life leave him.

She turned just in time to witness Ace crumple to the ground. She let out a scream of pain and rage at the sight of her beloved husband hitting the ground. She couldn't stay standing anymore and fell, the only thing that kept her from hitting the ground was a pair of strong arms plucking her from thin air, holding her against a firm body, and running with her. She clawed and tried to get away she couldn't just leave Ace behind, but the arms that held her clung to her even harder refusing to let her go. She heard a growl in her ear and let out a broken strangled sob, "But I can't just leave Ace, I can't leave him!" She cried out as she felt the grip on her relax and set her down, the floor beneath her feet shifted and she knew she was on board a ship. She was about to turn and try to run before they got too far from port, when she felt the arms wrap back around and pull her in close. She clutched onto the figure before her still unaware of who it even was.

Law held Cayxia close, having seen her reaction to losing Ace had once more brought forth the pain he had felt all those years ago when he had lost Corazon. He sighed and looked around his ship everyone was below deck so with a heavy sigh he tried to comfort the girl still holding her against him. He was very much out of his element with this but he knew he had to try to help. "I know…" he sighed and tried to come up with the right words, "I know it hurts to lose someone you love so much… I lost someone once too, I was much younger then and the love would not be the same as the love you had for Ace… But all the same." He stopped and looked down at the girl in his arms, he didn't know why he wanted to help her so badly but he thought it had something to do with Cora-chan. "What can I do to help?"He asked suddenly as he drew back just enough to look at her eyes.

She looked back into his golden eyes, and pleaded "Let me go back, let me go to him." She knew that even if she threatened to kill him he wouldn't let her and she didn't have the strength to put up any really struggle her spirit was broken, her reason for existing had abandoned her, and now she had nothing. A strangled sob left her lips as she broke down and truly cried. She felt herself being tucked back into Law, his strong arms wrapped tighter around her and just held her close, and she could sense no ulterior motives coming from him, just a sense of calm, of wanting her to know she was safe to mourn. "… If you won't let me g-go back," she struggled to say through the tears streaming down her face, she reached her arms around him and gripped the back of his shirt hard, turning her face to one side so she would not be speaking directly into his chest, "th-then will you, will you let me stay he-here, just for a while, just don't make me leave, please I-I don't want to be alone," She hoped he could understand her words through the unstopping stream of tears, as she could barely understand them herself.

He nodded into the young woman's hair, he wouldn't leave her alone this night, he knew he couldn't promise to be with her through the entirety of the healing process, but he would stay with her when he could. He started to draw back only to feel her grip on his shirt tighten slightly, he froze, "I'm not going anywhere," he told her gently, "I'm right here I just thought you might be more comfortable sitting down." He realized suddenly that there must be something in the way she was holding that gave some form of comfort. All the same her felt her grip slacken on him and lead her to a pile of crates that sat nearby so she could sit. Once he had her seated he crouched down in front of her, her breath freezing against his face, and he realized suddenly that the tears on her face had become ice as were the ones that had been on his shirt. He mentally shrugged it off, it must be the power of her Devil Fruit after all. "Would you like some water, or perhaps something to eat?" He offered gently, much more so then he likely would have been with anyone else. He stood and took a few steps away from her.

She shook her head. "N-no," she managed to force the single word past her lips. "P-please… just stay here wi-with me…" She pleaded once more. She looked up at him tears frozen in her eyes, "Please, I-I just need to be with so-someone to be with me, p-please." She hugged her arms around herself trying to stop the shivers that were coursing through her body. "I-I don't want to b-be alone." She didn't want him to leave, didn't know if she could keep herself together if she was left by herself. She felt the warmth of him moving closer to her and knew in that moment that she just wanted to be held, nothing else just held. "Ju-just hold me, I th-think it will help." She moved to take hold of the front of his shirt. She ducked her head and closed her eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears that she knew was about to start again.

He sighed heavily and moved a step closer to her, warily, after all just lost her husband or not this was still Shanks D. Cayxia, a very well-known and feared pirate captain, admittedly she was without her twin, which was part of what made her so feared, the two together were a very formidable team His next step seemed almost heavier than the first, but it brought him as close as he needed to be able to take her in his arms. He held her once more and noticed how much she seemed to calm just at his touch. He knelt before her just holding on to her and allowing her to cling to him as though for dear life. He ran his fingers gently through her hair in what he hoped was a soothing gesture. He still didn't understand quite why he cared so much, but figured it was mostly because she reminded him of himself when Cora-chan died…

She slowly started to drift off his arms, his body against her own reminding her of the nights she would spend holding onto Ace after a long time apart. His warmth allowing her to believe if only while she was half asleep that she might just be able to carry on because maybe just maybe a little piece of her beloved Ace was still with her, a part of her heart would always be with him, just as she knew a part of his was still with her, was that why she felt so safe with Law, she knew he wasn't a "safe" person by any means but she could also tell he wouldn't hurt her, wouldn't touch in any way she didn't approve of. She opened her mouth with the thought that she should thank only to feel her head fall forward and collide with his chest. She vaguely felt his arms move so that one was cradled under her knees and the other was safely tucked behind her back before she felt herself once more picked up.

He looked down when her head fell to his chest and knew she should probably be placed in a bed, but he need to make sure it was one in which she would be okay. He didn't want her to wake up in the morning freaking out because she had been left alone, which left only the option of his own bed. He sighed as he picked her up and began to head to his own cabin. He made his way slowly trying not to jostle the girl which he worried would wake her up, when only in sleep was she peaceful at the moment. Probably dreaming of her lost love. When he got to his room he very gently laid her down on his bed and the turned to close the door. The ice on his shirt had not yet melted and it was starting to make him feel cold, so he carefully peeled the garment off and threw it in the corner. Followed quickly by his shoes and hers.
He felt slightly awkward about getting into the bed with her now he was partially unclothed but knew he had to sleep tonight as well. He crawled into the bed and pulled her close to him once more. He noticed at some point that her cloths were starting to freeze over as well. He knew that her Devil Fruit powers were all ice, which would explain why everything was freeze but he didn't know if she could get hypothermia. He thought about it for a long moment and then decided that if she could he should remove the cloth, if she couldn't then there was no harm done. Carefully he stripped off her shirt checking to see what else was frozen, her bra he realized and noted that the ice had radiated out of her. He removed the undergarment and then wrapped her in his blanket once more curling around her. From there he slowly drifted into a land of dream, a land where Cora-chan was still with him.
When he woke it was to the sound of his cabin door slamming into the wall and someone screaming. His senses, slowly returning to him, he noted the feel of soft hair around his face, of the feel of a body cradled to his own. The events of the night returned to him nothing had happened and no one could see anything so why the screaming? He couldn't quite understand… Then a soft gust of wind blew over him, he shivered and realized that in their sleep the blanket had shifted till it was around their waists and while they both still had pants on, no one else who walked in would know that. It must look like he had taken advantage of a grieving widow.

She woke up slowly snuggling deeper into the warmth next her trying to ignore the sounds around her. Finally when she could so no more she sat up and threw her pillow at whatever was making the offending noise. Sighing she turned to Law, "Um, I just wanted to say thank you for last night." Her words sounded empty and hallow even to her, though she was truly thankful to him. "I'm sorry if I was a burden," she ducked her head, "and I hate to ask, but if…" she trailed off and bit her lip, "if I need someone to talk about all this, well you see, my family I don't think they would really understand… Ace was important to all of us, and we all loved him, but… I loved him in a way that I don't think they would understand the grief of… None of them have had that person die… Let alone in front of them…" She sighed, she was rambling and she knew it.

Law looked down at the woman who had shared his bed last night, "Of course I understand," he said slowly as he gathered her up into his arms. He held her for a long moment, he would miss this feeling when she was back with her own crew. "Any time you need someone to talk to, or even just sit with, come find me." He said, once more thinking of Corazon. It would be the beginning of a relationship that the two would cherish to their dying days.