Disclaimer: One Piece and Harry Potter does not belong to me, each belongs to their respective author.
Challenge by TheBlackSeaReaper.
Beta: TheBlackSeaReaper
-.-The Mirror of Erised
One morning in mid-December, Ace woke to find Hogwarts covered in several feet of snow, and notice that he had been in Hogwarts for three months and a half.
Hogwarts had exceeded all expectations that Ace would have: Instead of a simple castle or a fortress, he had encountered a castle with hundreds of secrets and surprises in every corner. The people were warm and kind, not a bunch of nobles as he had thought, there were so different on of another, and Ace was not limited to just Ron, Hermione and Neville. He became good friend with the Twins with their amazing creativity minds, and the Quidditch team that their partnership did not just limited to practices. But even then you could see Ace from time to time near the kitchen talking to Cedric Diggory.
Ace could not deny it; it seemed that he liked Hogwarts, even with all its classes and rules, he liked the place.
However, not all seemed willing to open up, and began to show a very unpleasant side of them.
"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."
He was looking over at Ace as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Ace, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Ace as Seeker next. Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Ace had managed to catch the snitch, even if they had try to prevented him to pass. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Ace about having no proper family.
It was true that Ace wasn't going anywhere for Christmas. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Ace had signed up at once. He didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. Well, considering that this was technically his first real Christmas, snow and all.
When they were children, Ace and Luffy, did not celebrate Christmas, almost nobody did, winter was a time to secure food and shelter, at least in the Grey Terminal, Ace and Luffy were fortunate to have a roof Dadan alone should search for food. Later in the Grand Line, it was difficult to keep track of time in the sea; it gets so hard to keep follow of seasons, especially with every island having its own climate. But that did not stop the Whitebeards pirates to prepare a pirate celebration for the first Christmas of Ace. The first Christmas with his new family.
Family would not be for the second one...
Ace felt the tingling felling in his fingers caused by the flames of his Devil Fruit, which activated in defensive. Directing his gaze to the table, he could see that the knife with which he cut some roots had slipped by not paying attention and had cut his finger, or at least that would have happened if not for his fruit.
Peacefully he removed the knife, which started to turn red by the fire, while on his finger a small flame kept dancing.
"Ace, there are already ten minutes" Neville murmured beside him watching a stopwatch.
Ace went out of his thoughts "Good, take it off the fire and add the powder"
Snape went right behind Ace and the young pirate left the Grand Line for then, Snape caused a great effect on Neville.
While Ace left the potion that had been prepared in Snape's desk, he could hear the different comments regarding the holidays:
"I want it to be tomorrow, I miss my parents"
He also missed Oyaji, but more than that, he was worried of what had happened to him and his entire family: The Whitebeard pirates.
"My sister and I will build a snowman, she loves snowmen"
Luffy would also love to build a snowman.
"Are you all right, Ace?" Hermione asked; Ace had no realized they had left potion's classroom and they were at the foot of the stairs, leaving the dungeon; "Ace?" insisted the girl.
"I think I left my book in the classroom, I see you in the library" and with that he turned and walked back, but instead of going to the classroom, he went into an empty closet.
Leaning against the stone wall he could hear the voice of Draco Malfoy walking past the half-open door.
His vision began to blur, and closing his eyes pressing hard he left two treacherous tears descended on his cheeks. He clenched his fists as he listened to the tears evaporate against the heat of his body.
"Get a grip on yourself, Ace," he said to himself, "You've searched and there is no trace of them" he hit the wall behind him which rumble at the force, "They would not like to see you like this!" but tears kept coming, one after another "Focus on the good times " he hung his head in shame "Live for them, live for all of them"
The door suddenly opened, and Ace looked up quickly, thanking that the room was plunged into darkness: Severus Snape watched him from the now full open door.
Ace quickly evaporated the remaining of the tears, still watching Snape.
"What are you doing here, Portgas?" said the professor.
Quick, thought Ace, an excuse, anything is good right now, "I ..."
"That I never again see wandering around here," he stepped aside, "Go"
Ace quickly slipped into the space left by the teacher and moved swiftly to the stairs.
Luckily Snape had not seen him cry.
Snape walk behind the boy, trying not to think on the hopeless expression of the boy had back in the closet; this was Harry Potter, the son of that presumptuous...
… And yet, the boy denies his father, denies the name they gave him and took another; and you, Severus, are more than willing to call him Portgas, to deny that it is his child, and you feel sympathy for him, because it is not as you thought he would be, he is different from his father.
It would be easier to hate him if he looked like his father, like everyone who had seen him said...
…Just like his father but with his mother's eyes...
But he did look anything like Potter.
Nor like Lily.
Snape watched as the boy rubbed his face with his sleeve to remove any traces of tears from her eyes, and Snape could see again in the child's mind the face of a smiling boy with black hair, a scar under his eye and a straw hat; and hear the voice of Portgas saying: "My only regret that is ... I can't live to see you archive your dream"
"WEASLEY!" boomed the voice of Snape right behind Ace.
Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.
"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."
"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.
"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him ..."
"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."
So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to -the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.
"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree ... put it in the far corner, would you?"
The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.
"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.
"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me -Ace, Neville, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."
"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.
"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"
"Oh, we're not working," Ace told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."
"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here ... I've told yeh... drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."
"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.
"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Neville added.
"After all" Ace said "If we wanted to know the dog is guarding we could just go throw the trap door"
"Which is not going to happen" Hermione added.
"Oh, come on! It would be a wonderful adventure"
"We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere" said Neville "just give us a hint… So Ace, don't jump through the trap door… I know I've read his name somewhere"
"I'm sayin' nothin, said Hagrid flatly.
"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.
They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal?
Ace had suggested to go and see what was going through the trapdoor, which all discarded immediately, preferring a more secure way than to "jump into the adventure" as Ace had said.
The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of Thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows. Ace knew one or two people who would die for at least see this.
Ace leafing through a book, just in front of the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books.
"You think the same as us," Fred said, approaching.
"Definitely," Ace said, knowing full well what they had thought "The problem here is that we would be in the same situation as we are now. We do not know what to look for."
They had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.
After ten more minutes they went off to lunch.
"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione. "And send me an owl if you find anything."
"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."
"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.
Ace burst out laughing.
-.-
When the holidays started and the castle was empty, Ace, Ron, Fred and George set out to do anything but find Flamel (Ace had asked Neville to investigate at home since he was the one who had heard the name).
In the early mornings, Ace went out of the tower into the forest, which was not as dangerous as Mt Cobus, but it had its own mystery; instead of giant creatures, it had strange creatures; Unicorns, centaurs and trolls.
The first time he went alone, but once the twins said they would go, ("Put a time and at that time we will be ready!"), the strolls became more relaxed, not so much running as Ace was used to, but still very funny.
They return in time to mealtimes and the rest of the afternoon they spend it in the common room, using the good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork ... bread, English muffins, marshmallows... And Ron plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk, but not after the plot number fifteen.
Ron also started teaching Ace chess wizard. This was exactly like Muggle chess, the one Marco had tried to teach him thousands of times, except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered.
Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family ... in this case, his grandfather. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.
Ace played with chessmen Seamus Finnegan had lent him, and they didn't trust him at all. They kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing. "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him; we can afford to lose him."
But Ace was stubborn.
"I'm your commander, so keep walking"
On Christmas Eve, Ace fell asleep in his bed, a really strange location, with his almost finished copy of Treasure Island, and only woke up to put the book on the nightstand and then feel sleep until the next day when he heard an excited "look, Ace, we've got gifts " from Ron that wake him up.
Very slowly, Ace sit up with a rather sleepy expression, it was there when he noticed the small pile of packages at the foot of his bed. "Presents?"
"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Ace's.
Ace picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Ace, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Ace blew it ... it sounded a bit like an owl.
"Nice who sent these?"
"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mom. I told her you didn't expect any presents and ... oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley sweater."
Ace had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.
"Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."
"She did all this?" said pointing to the sweater and the box of fudge "For me?" He stood watching the sweater a while before saying "No one had knitted me a sweater before" Makino used to take clothes when they were children, and had been a long time since Ace had longer require a sweater, the great advantages of his devil fruit, but still he put on the sweater over sleeveless shirt he wore for sleep.
His next present also contained candy ... a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione, and a box of Every Flavor Beans from Neville.
This only left one parcel. Ace picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it. Something fluid and silvery gray went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.
"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavor Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is ... they're really rare, and really valuable."
Ace picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.
"And what you think it is?"
"It's an invisibility cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face.
Ace extended the cloak and threw it around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell.
"It is! Look down!"
Ace looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.
"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"
Ace pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:
Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.
A Very Merry Christmas to you.
There was no signature.
Ron had taken the coat and admired it.
"I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything"
Suddenly the note in the hands of Ace burst into flames and he quietly released it, he went to the door with a firm step, while the note faded into ashes.
"What's the matter?"
But Ace did not respond, just kept going to the door that suddenly burst open, revealing the twins.
"Merry Christmas!"
"Hey, look ... Ace's got a Weasley sweater, too!"
Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.
"Ace's is better than ours, though," said Fred, looking closely at Ace's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."
"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."
"I hate maroon," Ron moaned halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head, the cloak completely out of sight.
"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid ... we know we're called Gred and Forge."
"What's all this noise?"
Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm, which Fred seized.
"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Ace got one."
"I ... don't ... want" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.
"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."
They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater.
-.-
He could get used to this, that was a fact; free food, and not just any food, good free food every day; and then, on important days, a feast, with all that he was not sure he could so easily leave Hogwarts.
Everything that the elves prepared was excellent and this was no exception, to the point that Ace managed to forget any anger that a certain cloak and note had caused.
Games, Gifts, mice running, hats, food, everything was getting this unforgettable night and the company became everything more amazing with the closing of the day with a snowball fight.
Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, and Ace could not help but see where Ron had thrown the cloak; as he opened his trunk to store his new chess game, Ace could see the cloak.
Your father left this in my possession before he died.
A cloak that belonged to James Potter.
Your father.
James Potter was not his father, his father was Edward Newgate.
Before he died.
Just like Roger. James Potter was like Gol D. Roger.
Ace watched the silver cloak on his hands; an invisibility cloak, the power to be invisible, the power to wander the halls unnoticed.
Use it well...
He didn't needed it, Ace could do anything without the help of any dead father that had not been there for his children.
And leaving the cloak back into the trunk, he walked down stairs. "Where to go?" He thought "Where to go?" What place was bold enough to prove, to whoever sent the note that he could accomplish all alone? At what place he haven't gone yet?
Fluffy? Nobody in their right mind would open that door.
The forest? Even in broad daylight you could go there.
And then he thought ... Flamel. The restricted section of the library. A site that not only he had to go, but he would have to be more careful in there.
And with that thought and a firm decision, Ace left the tower.
Everything that could go wrong went wrong. Ace lost count of the times he had to hide to avoid being caught, as how often he encountered ghosts in the hallways, or how many times a painting gave him some comment.
Finally he arrive to the library with its high ceilings and shelves that stretched into long corridors filled with volumes of multiple colors and sizes; all cover in complete darkness. Ace watched the large space, which he barely could see the ceiling and with no desire to waste time Ace moved quickly to the restricted section.
Using his knowledge as pirate and criminal by definition; Ace picked the lock and opened the gate that banded the way to the forbidden corridor and entered...
…
…And now what?
Books on one hand, book on the other, but he had no idea where to begin.
Damn impulsiveness, one day that was going to kill him... again.
Tentatively he took a few steps further into the shadows, this place was dingy, and murmurs were heard from the books, as if they were alive. Cautiously he raised a hand to turn it into a faint flame that began to illuminate the huge volumes.
This made no less gloomy, was that blood coming from a book...?
Ace stepped forward and picked up a book, as he open it he was received by a complex text, formed with words that he only half understood, he turned the page, it was a complex design which occupied a full page; this consisted of circles, squares and complicated writings on the edges that made no sense to Ace.
intrigued he ventured to examine a couple of chapters ahead; there he could see a symbol of a circle with two triangles, one above the other, with one inverted, on top what appeared to be a flare and at the bottom ... what it looked like a salamander. The word fire jumped a few times but no more than that, so as nothing make all that much sense with the word transmutation and transmutation circles popping up here and there, Ace closed the book.
He continued forward, his shoulders covered in flames illuminating the hallway, and pulled another tome, title letters blurred. He opened right in the middle, where he was received by a picture of a person surrounded by flames with an attitude completely calm, as if it were the most normal thing; in front of it a person, a magician, dressed in robes holding a book.
He directed his gaze to part with the text Ace read some text before closing the book shut. If he ever doubted why the restricted section has to be banned, that doubt vanished at the time; he did not want to imagine a small Neville or Hermione reading of succubus.
Next.
A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out without difficulty and opened it.
A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence... the book was screaming! Ace snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note.
He turned off his flaming shoulders and heard: He heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside.
He reopened the Shrieking book and placed it on the floor, as fast as he would he slipped out of the restricted section. As he saw that Filch entered the library, Ace snuck down the corridor, the book's shrieks still in the air.
He stopped suddenly in a corridor, facing the tall suit of armor of Ser Jozan. When suddenly he heard a door open, a nearby door.
Shit.
Quickly, Ace went behind Ser Jozan and hid behind the shield.
"Professor," said Filch's voice "You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library Restricted Section."
Interestingly, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, Ace must find that shortcut. But later, because Snape was who replied, "The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."
They passed the armor, without seeing the young pirate. Ace sighed.
"Rough night?" Jozan asked the boy.
"You're kidding, they are more interesting like this," said the boy coming out from behind the shield "By the way, from where Snape came out?"
"The next door" said armor, while the child looked in the direction the other two had gone.
Ace stared at the small door and then at the armor. "They put you in this place to protect this room"
Ser Jozan, which so far had not moved to speak, turned his metal helmet to look to small kid. "What makes you think that?"
Ace smirk, "Normally you are near the third floor, guarding Fluffy"
"Fluffy?"
"Three-Headed Dog"
"His name is Fluffy?"
"Yes" Ace glanced at the door "What is kept there?"
"Nothing of your interest"
But the boy was already at the door and entering the room.
"Just do not touch anything," said the voice of the armor in resignation.
It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket ... but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.
It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. Ace did not need his expert pirate eye, skill required in the job, to know that something was valuable in this mirror, as it was surely this what the armor was guarding.
Ace moved nearer to the mirror, with the intention of examine it closely, but as he approached he began to make a figure that was not reflected Ace reflation and suddenly the young pirate stopped. His eyes were deceiving him or his tired mind was playing him a joke. The shape of a boy possibly seventeen or more, was sitting on the floor; his hair was black, disheveled and his eyes the same color with a scar below one of this; his clothes were a shorts, sandals and a red garment. He was grinning and resting on his head was a very familiar straw hat.
...Luffy...
Only confusion stopped Ace for running to the mirror, and as if in a trance, he boy walked to the mirror without taking your eyes off Luffy, his little brother, who was swaying back and forth in his spot.
Slowly Ace own reflection started to appear in the mirror, just behind his brother and it was not until he was seven steps of the mirror that he saw another figure, much bigger, right behind his reflection.
It was just as he remembered, the white jacket, black bandana on his head, the distinctive white mustache shaped as a crescent moon.
"Oyaji"
And next to Whitebeard several familiar faces were watching him; it was as if not a day had passed.
He took two small steps, his reflection, large and muscular, was right behind Luffy; Without taking his eyes from the mirror, Ace reached his hand down even bending a little, the Ace in the mirror reached out a hand carrying a log-post and a bracelet, and eventual placed it on the head covered by the straw hat of his brother.
Ace's hand could only feel air.
Ace looked down at his hand, his real hand he looked at the empty space in front of him, as a tear fell on his little hand, followed by a second, a third and finally, it was impossible to keep track. He looked away from the mirror in a ridiculous attempt to keep his family from seeing him mourn.
He didn't know how long he was in that room, how long was he watching the mirror and how long he was crying; finally his narcolepsy took control over Ace and eventually he fell asleep still crying.
He awoke the next day in front of the Fat Lady portrait. He didn't know how he got there until the Fat Lady said Ser Jozan had taken him back to the tower.
Ace could not return to the room with the mirror in all the day, the twins took care of that and Ace didn't resisted, instead he spend his time calming down his emotions and thinking about the situation.
His first thought was that this mirror was a portal to his world, The Grand Line; or in case it was another time, a portal to the past. Although he quickly discarded it; his own presence in such a picture, big and strong as when he was twenty years old complicated the possibility of those theories, furthermore the presence of Thatch in such picture turned anything impossible, also because Luffy and Thatch had never known each other.
Ace returned to the room as everyone was asleep, using his mental map of the castle and his good sense of direction to guide him back.
The mirror was still there, and Ace sat quietly in front of it. Luffy was still there, this time sitting at the feet of Whitebeard; both listening attentively to Thatch as he told a story, while Jozu from time to time blew his two cents on the comments to the story from a little further back.
Ace watched the first two; Whitebeard looked just as he remembered, grinning before the history that his children were telling to the young rookie.
But Luffy he did looked different. Now watching the picture that unfolded before him with a cold mind, Ace could see the differences that had his brother. The main change that Ace could see was the change of wardrobe: the shorts were the same, or at least the same model, just as sandals and characteristic straw hat on his head; but the difference was an open, long-sleeved red cardigan with four buttons, since he knew Luffy, all those years ago when he was a child he could only wore short sleeves, nothing more longer, something quite irrelevant but Ace notice; however see him in this cardigan with long and wide sleeves, it was strange, but he looked good it really suit him, and even sitting, Ace could see a yellow sash tied around his waist.
Thatch was the same as always, just as he remembered, and his expression was clear that the story he told was not so attached to reality as it should be, in addition to that the expressions of Jozu, Izo, and Haruta implied that the story didn't go like that. But Luffy as always, seemed to believe the whole story.
Marco, meanwhile, was in another conversation, interestingly talking with three other people, one of them, curiously Makino. It had been long since Ace had seen her, and the truth was that she was one of those people who looked younger than they actual age, and Makino seemed that with the passage of time she did not change, only Ace could feel something different in the barwoman, something more mature, an air; sweet and motherly as ever, but something told him that this Makino who was sitting on a step, looking up to Marco who spoke up, was not the same that he had left several years ago along with Dadan, Luffy and the bandits . What had become of her? Was she ok?
With her other two figures listened to Marco. One of them sitting two step below Makino, was a boy with blond hair, long and slightly wavy, laughing openly at what Marco had said; This person intrigued Ace, with his dark blue jacket with a buckle on the left sleeve, with a white shirt and black vest, a frilled cravat and a simple belt holding a pair of loosen pants with black boots, and on his neck hung a pair of googles over a band. But more characteristic of him was the scar on his face over his left eye and part of his cheek. It would be a lie to say that he had no idea who he was, after seeing Thatch he had no trouble identifying his other brother who had died years ago. Sabo would really look like that if he were still alive? That scar on his face, most likely it would result Tenryubi attack. Would the mirror be showing him what would have been if Sabo had not died? No, it was something else, you could know that seeing the last person of this group.
Sitting next to Makino, was a woman. She was a very pretty woman. It had long waves of light color hair, adorned with a large flower: an Hibiscus, Ace's favorite flower by the way; her eyes were of a dark color but were highly expressive and Ace they could see in them a great pride and resolution, and her face was decorated with freckles, "freckles like mine "Ace thought.
"She truly was beautiful" murmur the boy.
Ace remembered little of those conversations with Garp in which a boy who had not yet asked the world "what if Gold Roger had a son?" Asked the old Marine "what was his mother like?" Obviously Garp had fallen short to describe her, but there was always implied that Ace looked more like Roger than Rouge, but now he looked her, he saw that he had many features of her. Perhaps he had not inherited that beautiful light colored hair, but Ace felt could look at the mirror and see Portgas D. Rouge instead of just seeing Gol D. Roger. After all Whitebeard once had told him, that he didn't resemble much to Roger, his personality was completely different, then that should be from his mother.
-.-
The third night Ace came back to the room, but he paused just a moment at the door, someone else was in the room, but after a moment he notice that it was harmless and held no threat. He walked to the mirror, ignoring who was in the room, and sat before the mirror.
"So… back again, Harry?" just when Ace had hoped not to b interrupted, and above everything he had called him Harry, not Ace.
Ace turned his head slightly to meet Albus Dumbledore, sitting on one of the desks by the wall. He gave him a careful look before returning his eyes forward to the mirror. He didn't know how to put it, but something about that look of bright blue gave him a strange impression.
"It's courteous to respond when spoken to you," the man said.
"It courteous to refer the person by his name"
"Your name is Harry, and although you might also like Ace, that's not the name your mother gave you."
The sight of Ace went to Rouge, who openly laughed with Dadan, while Luffy and Thatch ran away from a furious Marco.
"The name that my mother gave me was Ace, and I carry the name of the woman who did more for me than any man I should call you 'father'"
Dumbledore narrow his eyes as he focus on Ace, exploring the mind of the young in search of something that would serve him, he found what the child was thinking: A woman, very beautiful with long light wavy hair, this was the woman he had done more for him... but he needed more. He concentrated to see more, to see the whole picture of what Harry saw in the mirror. At first he began to distinguish someone else ... was it a man or a woman? But before he could find out, something hit him and drove him out of the boy's mind; he did not know what it was, but if he had to describe it would be like a gust of wind, but even as it felt like a strong gust of wind, instead of wind felt like a blast of magic, a power of some sort, Albus could not identify how to call it, but he was intrigued and worried that it came from Harry.
"So," said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Ace, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."
Ace did not respond.
"I expect you've realized by now what it does?"
Ace did not respond again, Marco had managed to catch Thatch and Luffy had found refuge between Whitebeard and Sabo, the rubber boy laugh as Marco blew threats to the chef.
"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"
Ace he was having trouble ignoring the man, with that tendency to easily exploit, although the best option was to ignore him. "Concentrate on the mirror" Ace said to himself "Thatch and Luffy could surely been a threat if they had known each other, at least for Marco" But Dumbledore would not give up so easily.
"Harry..."
"Stop calling me that." Interrupted the young pirate "the answer is on the top of the mirror: it show us the desire of our hearts"
"That's right; however, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."
"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, I see you did not bring that admirable cloak but why don't you get off to bed? "
Ace did not move.
"I'll stay here a while longer"
"Ace, dwell on dreams..."
"The mirror will be moved, if I can't no longer see it, I want to engrave what I see in my mind, I will not forget what I see in this mirror"
-.-
Author's Notes.
Finally, never thought it would end editing this chapter. But I managed to finish it.
I had really wanted to write this chapter and write something sentimental, hope I managed to transmit enough emotions to you.
About the mirror:
Remember one important thing: Ace does not know what happened after he died, do not know that Whitebeard is dead, that Luffy has incredible scar in the shape of a X on his chest (which matches the sun Ace has in Firefly) and definitely (Spoilers of current events in the Manga (6/2/14)) that Sabo is alive. That why he don't say that Edward Newgate is death.
On the other hand also remember that Harry, when he stood before the mirror, he did not know how his parents look like, but the mirror showed them. So despite that the mirror shows us what one most desires, it can show us things that we have not seen. It is therefore not impossible that in this chapter the mirror show Luffy after 3D2Y or a Portgas D. Rouge or Sabo...
Now, by request of my dear editor (or rather a friend who reads my master piece) I will leave Firefly for a while to focus on writing a chapter of the novel I'm working on.
Fortunately for Firefly I have so many ideas to leave this story (my notebook of ideas have almost two pages of ideas for Firefly).
I estimate I'll be back by September or at the latest in October.
