Ace wanted to go home.

Holly knelt in the bathroom with the shattered remains of her locket in her hands, giggling uncontrollably like a madwoman. Giggling like something had snapped inside her. An ear to ear smile had split across her face. She was acting like a weight had been finally pulled off her shoulders and was basking in the sheer joy of it being gone. While Ace… he just wanted to go home.

Ace wanted to see his father again, to see his brothers again, and for the first time in his life, allow them to comfort him. He wanted to… he wanted Marco to tell him it wasn't his fault that he'd missed Teach's intentions; he wanted his pops to make everything okay again, to actually hug him and be the first one to do so since Luffy. Ace felt like a child craving familiar affection, affection that he'd never sought out before in his life. Ace wanted to roll up in his bed with his piles of paperwork nearby, which he was behind on. He wanted Luffy's wanted poster hanging on the wall nearby and to hear the distant sound of drunken laughter echoing in his ears. He wanted the comfortable lull of the ocean waves under him rocking him to sleep. Ace was tired of being cold, tired of the axe hanging over his head, and being uncertain about Holly. He was so tired.

Ace grit his teeth grinding them together. He had to get it together, he actually wanted a hug; that was ridiculous, he'd never wanted something like that in years. Not since he'd been a child and Sabo had died- his hands shook, still picturing the melting face of his brother with those red eyes and speaking those harsh words. It was a terrible thing, but Ace no longer remembered Sabo's real voice, nor did he remember the way he held himself. He didn't remember the exact shade of blue that Sabo's eyes had been, now could only picture that furious red.

"You broke it!" Holly hopped in place, smiling so brightly that it almost distracted him. Her joy was as infectious as Luffy's, her presence was almost as good as his; that joy, the way Holly was able to make him relax despite all his hesitation to trust her and everything happening.

"Cursed blood. Demon child-"

"-All your fault-"

"Oh, Ace!" Holly suddenly crawled from her spot and hurled herself at him. Ace sucked in a sharp breath as she collided with his chest and wrapped her arms firmly around his neck. In his ear, she gave a squeal as she basked in the joy she was feeling.

Ace was no child in need of a hug, and even as a child, he hadn't asked for one after learning young that the bandits did not offer such comforts even to toddlers. Regardless, Ace wasn't a child, he didn't need a hug. And yet... Holly's arms still wrapped around him, her body pressed itself to his, and he quickly noticed that with her head at his neck, she couldn't see his face. Hesitating a moment, Ace sat there while she clung, before he slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them around Holly's smaller form. Then he breathed. She was so happy that he'd broken that locket, she was hugging him out of excitement, she'd been the one to do it. Ace hadn't asked for it, and that mattered somehow.

His eyes clamped shut as they burned, and Ace held in the hiccuping noise that badly wanted to escape. Fingers flexing on Holly's back, Ace allowed himself to be held and felt an inaudible sob escape. 'Cursed blood,' 'demon child,' countless told him he didn't deserve to live while his own thoughts wrote in what was missing. It was his own mind that decided it was his fault Thatch was dead, that Sabo was dead. But it was lies. It was the lies of some monstrous spirit reading his memories and insecurities, it was that snake-faced bastard's actions. Marco, Pops, Izo, and Luffy would never say such things, Sabo and Thatch wouldn't; they were his family.

It was lies and maybe if he kept telling himself that he'd actually believe it.

"It's broken! Snake-face's locket!" Holly happily proclaimed, squeezing him with all her might, "that damned thing has been telling me nonsense for months! And now it's broken all thanks to you, Ace!" A shuddering breath escaped his lips, and his whole body shook as he clung to Holly, praying she didn't try to pull back. Not yet, he wasn't ready yet. She couldn't see, no one could.

Holly stilled slightly when she felt Ace shake, when she felt his body shudder while they were pressed together. Her joy, her relief had calmed, and realization returned. The words Voldemort told Ace, the people he'd used, it had to be a painful blow, even disregarding that Ace was only present in spirit. The situation got so much worse when she remembered that Voldemort had attacked his soul. Ace was not okay, he couldn't be. Holly doubted anyone could be after Voldemort attacked them mentally like that.

Ace shook again, his fingers flexing on her waist, and Holly closed her eyes. She tightened her grip subtly on Ace's body and made herself comfortable by stretching out her legs, so she was directly in his lap chest to chest. Holly tried then to remember what Ron and Hermione had told her when they'd been eleven, and they'd surprised her with a hug. They'd been so relieved she'd been okay after Quirrel-mort's attack, and Holly hadn't been anywhere near used to physical contact, even after the year of Ron's casual touching. She'd flinched unable to help herself, and Ron had decided right then he'd hug her as much as possible to get her used to it. Holly would say he accomplished his mission by the time her second year was over, and he tackled her after they'd saved Ginny.

"Hugging releases oxytocin, which lowers our heart rate and our cortisol levels. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for stress… so, therefore, accept our hugs, Holly!"

"Hermione! Don't get all technical, it's just nice to hug!"

"What? It's interesting, hugging is scientifically proven to help reduce stress!"

"In Circe's name 'Mione."

Holly closed her eyes and lowered her chin onto Ace's shoulder, pretending she didn't notice the way his body shook. She held Ace and allowed her body to relax now that she was finally free of the locket's constant whispering. Voldemort's hissing voice had been going on endlessly about her demise, about all the people planning to betray her. About how Ace was probably going to murder her in her sleep. Holly shook her head slightly, she felt like a moron. Of course, Ace wasn't going to do that, he'd proven himself to her a dozen times over. She could trust him.

Moving slowly, Holly leaned her head against Ace's. She felt her heart lighten, and her mind wander as if chains had been removed from her heart and head. Her eyes wandered along Ace's body, he was still shirtless, and his skin wasn't black- wait a second! Holly pulled back slightly, stopping the motion just as quickly as Ace clutched her waist to stop her pulling away, she allowed him to and focused on the skin on his shoulder. Reaching up, Holly ran a finger along his shoulder and felt his skin, his real, normal skin. She could touch it, how could she touch it? Ace and whatever was holding him here should have been weaker with that attack, not stronger. Unless. Had something happened to his body? Had he ended up physically present- no, no, his waist was see-through.

Holly shifted slightly and reached her hand down to touch, and her palm went straight through his body. Confusion tripled as Ace finally allowed her to pull back and not a moment too soon as Holly was abruptly dumped onto the floor right through his body.

"Oof!" Holly winced, lifting her head automatically, and caught a glimpse of a woman with pink hair and a face full of freckles with her hand raised over Ace's shoulder, before she vanished like the wind. Holly blinked several times, wondering if she'd imagined it.

"Alright?" Ace asked his voice completely even. Holly was quickly suspicious that anything had actually been wrong with how quickly he recovered, but then she seemed to be similar to Ace in the emotional range. She was fine until she wasn't, then it was an explosion and then she was fine again.

"Yup," Holly scooted backward, so she wasn't sitting literally inside his lap. The motion caused a bit of glass to dig in, and Holly hissed unhappily. With a wave of her hand, the locket pieces collected and dumped into the nearby trash-bin; that was the best that damned thing deserved, a Muggle trash lot. "More than alright, really, I'm great!"

"Because I broke your locket?" his brow arched, and Holly knew it was finally time she told him about the Horcruxes. Holly no longer had any tie to the excuses she'd been holding onto since Ace arrived, he was clearly not an agent of Voldemort's considered he'd already destroyed a Horcrux and had saved her from the man himself. While the last holdout, the one that spoke in Dumbledore's voice and said she shouldn't trust anyone with this truth, had lost its weight. Dumbledore hadn't told anyone about Horcruxes and look where they got them, back into an endless civil war. Holly disregarded the idea of Pettigrew and a traitor, Ace wasn't that.

"It was a Horcrux." Holly curled her legs under her prepared to have one of the more critical conversations she'd had in a great long while… in a bathroom. Funny how that kept happening.

"A what?" his head cocked to the side, his lips pressed together, giving him an altogether comical look. Holly chuckled softly, trust Ace to make the heavy topic lighter. He'd probably think nothing of the problem, and considering he'd just destroyed the locket with his bare hands, she wouldn't be surprised if he did.

"A Horcrux, it's an item in which a witch or wizard has placed part of their soul. Its a tether to the earth; it keeps someone alive even if they die, and so long as one exists, you can't die." Holly watched Ace's expression shift, and the realization hit almost instantly. Ace was intelligent, she didn't need to explain any further for him to get it, and without her needing to, Ace jumped to the right conclusion.

"Snake-face made them, how many?" Ace knew it had to be more than one, there was no way a man like that would stop at one tether to the world.

"Seven." Holly's hand twitched as she stopped herself from rubbing her scar, Ace didn't need to know about that. Yes, she trusted him, but he didn't need to know her fate. Holly would spare Ace of that information, and he'd return to his life free and alive and thinking she'd lived a long, happy life in return. "The locket was one of them, my headmaster destroyed another last year, and I destroyed one in my second year."

His brows pinched, then clarity shone: "… ah, the diary."

"Exactly so."

Ace tapped the floor, and Holly noted his hand was see-through now, worry slipped into her heart seeing that. If she was right and someone, that woman maybe, was sending Ace to her using magic than Voldemort's attack would have affected her too. It likely meant that however long Ace had with her had been drastically cut down. The proof was in the way his body was steadily becoming see-through, one body part at a time.

Would this mean Ace wouldn't be able to stay with Holly? What if his time was out?

If that were the case, Holly would be alone again without a way to destroy the Horcruxes. Thanks to Ace, she was better off, she did have a hint of where to get information of the Horcruxes, Bellatrix was her prisoner, and Holly would do what it took to get information from the woman. She'd be okay, but Ace… if he was pulled back to prison where Marines were preparing to execute him. He could be killed, Merlin, Holly didn't even know how long until Ace's execution there was, it could be seconds away!

"Why didn't you destroy the locket if you had it all this time?" Ace said, tapping his hand to his chin, not noticing it was see-through yet.

"What?" Holly snapped back to attention, and Ace sighed repeating his question calmly. "Oh," Holly managed, "that's because while Dumbledore did tell me about the Horcruxes, he didn't tell me how to destroy them."

"That's suspicious." Ace immediately figured, he might be paranoid in general, but it honestly was. If the war was hinging on this and Dumbledore had actually destroyed them, the number of potential Horcruxes, and how to destroy them would be the first thing he'd tell someone. Unless Holly knew something different?

"Suspicious? Well… I don't know, he didn't exactly have the… time…" she trailed off frowning, "actually he sort of did, he spent all of last year showing me memories of potential Horcruxes and snake-faces history and when we did learn snake-face made them there was still a month before he died."

"And he destroyed one that very year, so he knew how to do it," Ace placed a hand on his hip nudging the point, "yet he didn't tell you how to do it? I'll repeat it: suspicious."

"He…" Holly bit her lip. Dumbledore hadn't told her a lot of things, he hadn't told her about what she was until he'd been poisoned by Voldemort's guilt-inducing potion. Holly hadn't honestly wondered since then if Dumbledore had ever intended to tell her the truth at all, but now she was. Would she have gone the entire Horcrux hunt clueless? Would she have defeated Voldemort, unaware that she was still tying Voldemort to life? Or had Dumbledore told someone who'd-

"Severus… please…"

"No," She gasped, no way, nope, she was jumping to crazy conclusions. She was mad.

Ace, mistaking her 'no' for answering his question, huffed: "Not helpful was he? Whatever. We know how to destroy it now. I'll just break the others like..." He flexed his hand and finally caught sight of its state. Alarm raced through him when Ace realized he couldn't use his Haki, the very thing he'd used to destroy the Horcrux in the first place. Armament Haki, it had to be since Ace had been actively holding the damned thing when he'd shattered it. Conquerors could be possible, but Ace had little control of his conquerors Haki, so armament was more likely… which he now couldn't use. "Shit."

"Shit?" Holly demanded.

Ace quickly rearranged his plans while hesitatingly saying: "I can't use Haki… whatever that locket did… my Haki is gone." Which meant he couldn't touch anything.

"No, I think that's temporary." Ace snapped his head toward her demanding with his expression for her to explain, and Holly quickly did so. "That attack must have drained your energy and the energy of the person keeping you here. They must have been weakened, which is why you are see-through. If they regain energy, or you do, then it should be fine." Holly nodded along to her theory, she was most likely correct, it felt right to her. "My bigger worry is actually your execution, we never discussed it. When are they going to do it?"

"So I need to eat? You thought that helped right? Good thing I made… the food!" he launched off to the floor and sprinted from the room, leaving Holly in the dust. She blinked after him, then huffed, stood, and followed. She had been wondering about that smell.

Entering the kitchen after Ace, who was helplessly trying to get food out of the oven, which he couldn't touch. Holly waved a hand, causing the door to open, and the large rack of deer meat flew out and onto a plate. "How do you intend to eat when you can't touch the food," Holly partly teased as Ace bemoaned the slightly crispy skin. "And can you answer my question, please? When are you going to be executed?" She had two plans for solving Ace's imprisonment, but she had yet to find the proper spell to accomplish them, and she wasn't sure Ace would go for one considering what it involved.

Ace grabbed at the meat, and his hand went straight through it, "No idea, I've been here for what… two weeks?" Holly nodded since that was a generally accurate guess. "My execution will probably be a… larger than normal event, so the Marines will be expecting a fight. They'll need to prepare and move me to Marineford before it happens. I'd guess…" he stopped grabbing for the meat as he really thought about when he was going to die. About the moment he'd be up on that platform, the second that two swords would slice through his body and his life just… stopped.

He was going to die.

"Ace?"

"A couple days," Ace choked out, "by this point, they'll probably move me soon. And if I can't regain my Haki, I can't help you win your war. You'll have to figure out how to use Haki yourself, because I'll be gone."

'Gone?' panicked anger hit her, and Holly stomped forward and growled as she stared up at Ace. She got as close as possible without being able to touch him. "Don't you dare say that! How could you- you aren't going to- you stupid- AH!" she stomped her foot, unable to articulate her thoughts. Holly physically shook her head and stepped back, ignoring how much of a hypocrite she was that she was getting upset that Ace was convinced he was going to die.

"We'll just have to solve your imprisonment first, then you'll be free to teach me Haki, and then we can find the other Horcruxes." There, that was coherent enough.

"Holly… I'm in another world, I'm in a prison that is considered inescapable guarded by a jailer that can kill you with a single touch." Holly jerked, that was the first she'd heard of it. Then again, Ace had told Holly very little about his world or himself over the time he'd been around her. Which… why was he telling her now? Did he trust her now? "I'm on the lowest level, and when they do finally move me, I'll be guarded by thousands of Marines, many of which make Vold- Snakeface look like a chump. Holly, I hate to say this… but I'm a dead man walking, I always have been."

Holly shook her head in denial. No, there had to be a way to save Ace, there had to be! "Then why agree to the deal!? Why agree to work with me if you didn't think I could handle it?"

Ace lifted his fingers feeling oddly calm while Holly was freaking out: "first, because I didn't know your capabilities. Secondly, because I am trapped with you-" Holly sucked in a breath feeling a rush of betrayal that stung her heart, "-and thirdly, I wanted to help you, and you're stubborn."

Her spine straightened ready to defend herself, ready to say something, anything in her abrupt anger: "Well you can just-"

"And," Ace spoke loudly over her, "now I know you can't handle it. Now I know you, and I can say you're probably one of the best people I could have been trapped with for the last weeks of my life. And I still want to help you, we can fix your war even if we can't fix my fate."

Except they couldn't because she was going to die just like Ace was. But he didn't know that, and she wasn't going to tell him. She couldn't. "Great sentiment Ace, but it's bullshit. I'm saving you whether you think I can or not." This would not be Sirius all over again; it wouldn't be Moody or Hedwig; Ace was absolutely not going to die. That woman had chosen Holly for a reason, and Holly wasn't going to disappoint; she could handle it, otherwise she never would have been selected.

"Holly… I don't think you understand how strong these people are." Ace pressed as she spun on a heel and marched toward her bookshelf. She was stubborn as he'd said, and he really should have lied about his estimated time left. Now she was going to focus on his problem, and not her own when she had a prisoner, and three more Horcruxes to find - assuming the last was Voldemort himself. Holly should be focusing on that and more specifically, learning Haki because it was the only way they knew of to destroy the Horcruxes. However, the time he had left wasn't enough for her to learn, it would take months… months he didn't have.

Maybe she had the right idea? If he was free, then he could physically help her and could train her to use Haki- but no, he wasn't kidding that she was out of her league. The Marines would have the best guarding him, people that could run circles around Ace they'd be faster than light to Holly and would see her spells a mile away. She couldn't save him even if she found a way into his world.

"I thought I could apparate right to your location, but I don't know if I can do that across worlds," Holly said pulling out books, "then I thought I could swap my spirit with yours, and use my magic to break you out and apparate to safety. But I'll need a location to escape to, which requires reading your mind. If I can use magic in your body at all."

"Absolutely not."

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd like that; most people don't." She thought it was the mind-reading that was the problem, she had no idea that it was something entirely different for Ace. It was Magellan, Impel down, and the chains around his entire body keeping him completely immobile. Ace had seen Holly apparate, she had to be able to move to do it, and he physically couldn't. She'd get herself killed, Holly was going to get herself killed.

"So I'll just have to find a way to travel worlds, this would be so much easier with Hermione."

How could he make her understand? If Ace had Haki he'd show her just how much he'd been holding back against her, that even without his flames, he could defeat her. She had no idea the scope of what he was facing or how determined the Marines would be to keep him, to kill him. She didn't know whose child he was, and as ridiculous as sounded to him… even if he told her, Holly wouldn't get it. She wouldn't care who Roger was, wouldn't care that he was Roger's son.

She would perhaps be one of the very few that didn't care and the only one who wouldn't even blink over it.

When had that become a bad thing?

Ace hesitated as Holly tossed books over her shoulder, hunting for something specific. He was warmed by her determination, by the fact that no matter what she'd heard from Voldemort's shade, she still wanted to save him. But Holly didn't know the truth, and perhaps it was time for him to tell her just why the Marines were so determined to kill him. Just like she'd told him about the Horcruxes. "Holly-"

"Just, just let me do this Ace," Holly kept her eyes on the titles, "you need to live okay? Because… because it's you and… I might actually be falling…" she turned, mouth open and found herself in an empty room. Ace was gone.

Rouge panted with her back pressed to the wall of the tent. Nearby Sirius watched as Holly and Ace spoke, and he kept careful watch of them and their mental state. They'd both taken a blow, several in fact, and there were far more upcoming. Thankfully they'd found a brief moment of peace only to fill it with deep conversation. Damn, the kids couldn't catch a break, could they?

When Rouge finally caught her breath, Sirius turned his attention to her. "That was all your energy Rouge… are you sure you wanted to use it like that?"

Rouge recovering but feeling weaker than she ever had before, nodded. She'd seen Ace fading after Voldemort's spirit attacked Lily directly through the connection she had with Ace. She'd had seen Lily's energy wrenched from her and had noticed that it was quickly affecting her son, who would not be able to use Haki, which required that very same energy. Rouge had also seen how emotionally struck Ace was by the attack. She had watched over her son all his life, she knew precisely what Ace acted and looked like when he was agitated, and she'd never seen him that broken down before.

Those words put in the mouths of the people Ace actually trusted, it had been needlessly cruel and a direct attack. It was no surprise Ace had only fought back when the moronic wizard had tried to use Luffy of all people against him. It was almost a blessing that Voldemort had tried it; Luffy was the one person Ace trusted the most, and Rogue knew Luffy would never turn on his brother like that, as much as Ace did it seemed. Still, even if the attack ended, Ace had been affected and had needed comfort, even if he didn't want to recognize that need.

"I'm sure," She told Sirius, "Ace needed it more than we probably realize."

Holly Potter was right for her son, she read his needs effortlessly and unconsciously. She had known Ace needed comfort and had realized quickly that Ace would never ask for it. So despite basking in her joy of the destruction of a Horcrux as Sirius had been doing, Holly had still kept in mind Ace's needs enough to subtly allow him to accept the help he needed. At the same time, Rouge had ensured the hug Holly offered could actually be felt.

It was worth it. Even if Rouge had no energy to speak of anymore.

She just hoped that energy wasn't needed later, especially with how drained Lily now was.

"We should check on Lily," Sirius mumbled, watching the pair finally break down and confess a few truths. It was about time Holly mentioned the Horcruxes to Ace even if she was still holding back the truth of her fate.

"Right…" Rouge took a step back and allowed herself to slip along the connection Lily had with her son. In a moment, she found herself standing back in the darkness of Impel down. It was a jarring change after the warmth and bright colors of the magical tent Holly currently made her home. Sirius was a split second behind her and stopped to find Lily's form flickering as she kept her hands forcefully on Ace's head. Neither Ace nor Lily looked good. Lily's very soul had taken damage from Voldemort's attack, and it was showing on her body, which should have been never changing. While Ace… while the physical didn't show on Ace's spirit, it did on his body.

Little bloodied gashes raced up her son's body like someone had squeezed the life out of him. The countless little cuts bled out inky black blood, a result of the malice Voldemort had been putting out. Ace thankfully didn't seem to notice the damage at the moment, but that was explainable by the fact that his spirit was still with Holly so he wouldn't. Still, Rouge couldn't help but cringe upon seeing it. Ace would be in a great deal of pain when he returned to his body, and going off Lily's state that would be soon.

"Lils… you need to stop." James urged, giving them both a concerned look, he had no idea what happened to cause this, and he wanted to.

"I… I can't," Lily's hands shook, "they're not ready, Ace hasn't told her how to find him… and Holly still thinks she needs to… to die." Lily sobbed out a breath, and James hissed.

"Lily, you are out of energy, you'll going to be using up your soul soon. Let me finish this. I can handle it with what I have left."

"Time will close in on them!" Lily snapped, knowing the spell she'd designed made it so time moved faster on Holly's side than Ace's. It gave them more time to bond.

"It will anyway, Lily," James placed his hands on hers, "you're too weak to keep the spell going."

"You have to let go anyway," Sirius added from the doorway, "the guards are coming."

The three of them snapped their attention to the doors, and Lily hurriedly released Ace's forehead with a gasp. Ace immediately choked as he was yanked back into his body, his mouth open to say something. In that split-second Lily stared down at him, Ace looked up at her, and their eyes met for the briefest moment. Then a clang sounded, and they both snapped back to attention.

"He saw me," Lily breathed, "he looked right at me…"

"Shit." Ace swore as the pain of the cuts registered, his muscles were rigid, more so than it already was, as one of his eyes closed as his body braced itself. Voices echoed down the path, people were coming, and Ace didn't have time to dwell on what was happening to his body because of it.

"I believe Holly saw me as well," Rouge confessed, "after I released Ace, she looked right into my eyes… though it's doubtful she knows who I am." Ace wouldn't have mentioned her, Rouge knew that much. But it was possible Holly would ask, considering she was already curious enough. Rouge hoped so, she wanted Ace to know that he still had a mother had loved him, even if she was nothing more than a ghost.

"They're coming," Sirius announced, sticking his head out of the cell door and looking down where they couldn't see. He ignored James kissing Lily and praising her efforts before they both took position behind Ace to send him back to Holly when these Marines were gone. "Big group and a… err, not actually sure what that is."

"That?" Rouge left her son's side as Ace shoved back any expression of pain to glare balefully at the door. He was prepared for what the Marines had for him, or so he told himself. Ace was expecting his escort, already acknowledging the fact that he'd likely guessed wrong. His 'few days' was actually right then. Right that moment, before he'd told Holly anything substantial, before she figured out how to get to his world, before she learned Haki.

They'd run out of time, and he- shit, he'd never even taken the chance to kiss her.

"That." Rouge repeated as she realized what was happening, and she smiled, "that, is a he, and that… that is a good thing."

"It- err- he is?" Sirius asked, glancing at Rouge just as the Marines stopped in front of Ace's cell with their newest prisoner between them.

"Jimbe." Ace breathed as the Fishman straightened proudly, even as the Marines snapped at Ace to put his back to the cell wall away from the door. Ace scoffed at them: "Like I can put it anywhere else." One of the Marines retaliated fiercely, and his fist cracked against Ace's cheek. Ready for precisely that, Ace narrowly avoided biting down on his tongue. He allowed his face to roll with the punch before lifting his head again. Ace spat the blood that collected in his mouth at the Marines 'pristine' clothing and earned another strike for it.

For a moment, Ace wondered how Holly would react to that and felt his heart lighten slightly because he could already picture her fury.

"Tell me you didn't do that shit in Azkaban Padfoot?" James asked as Ace snarled like a dog at the Marines who finished chaining up the huge blue man.

"Eh, not that exactly. The guards didn't really interact, but I did spit at a dementor once… in retrospect, it was a mistake, but it felt good at the time."

"Men," Rouge rolled her eyes, she would bet all her galleons that Roger had done exactly the same thing at one point just to mess with the guards.

"So, Rouge, who is this?" Lily put the question forth as the Marines backed off, taunting Jimbe.

"That is Jimbe; he's an ally to the Whitebeard Pirates, and one Ace considers a friend." Rouge was losing track of what was happening in her own world with how focused she'd been on Ace and Holly working together. So she didn't know why Jimbe was present, but she could guess going off the information she did have. "It's likely he protested starting a war with Whitebeard, which resulted in his arrest."

"But if he's a pirate, then why would protesting get him arrested?"

"Because Jimbe is a Shichibukai."

"A what?" echoed three confused voices.

"What's happening?" Ace cut to the chase with his friend, "why are you here?"

Jimbe heaved a breath as the Marines left his hearing range and answered to the best of his ability, "The marines announced your execution publicly, they intend to start a war… they are tempting fate. They know well that your family will never sit around while you are executed, they want this to happen."

Ace guessed as much, he knew if it were any of his siblings, if any of them were to be executed publicly than he'd never hesitate to rush to their defense. It shouldn't be a surprise the crew would do precisely that for him, yet it was. Because he had purposely gone against his father's orders, he'd intentionally left to hunt down Teach. Teach who had been part of his division, who Ace should have noticed, should have stopped.

"They don't blame you for this Ace," Jimbe stated as firmly as he could, "this is on Teach. It is his fault, his and the Marines."

"Sure." Ace mumbled half-heartedly. But there was still going to be a war. Becaus he'd let his guard down around Teach, because he'd left, because Ace hadn't noticed, because he'd underestimated his opponent members of the crew would die and their deaths would be his fault. "Why are you here?"

"I refused to join the slaughter… I refuse to be a part of it."

Not a surprise either, Jimbe had his crew and his island to think about. He was torn between his people and his ideals. Ace got it, and in another universe, he'd be glad for the friendly company until his last day. But in this case… in this case, he had different priorities and a different focus. He was hardly conscious in his cell anymore and was honestly thankful for it. And now that he was thinking about it, Jimbe was perhaps the perfect person to ask the question burning a hole in his lungs.

"Is there a Marine that can create worlds? Or trick you into thinking you're in a completely different one. You'd know… wouldn't you?" Jimbe frowned at the sudden jump when Ace added quickly: "It could be someone with red hair? And… really bright green eyes." Eyes like Holly's, a nose like Holly's. A woman who looked just like Holly, who'd want him to save her, help her… a woman that was probably her mother, which would explain quite a bit.

"No," Jimbe answered, "to my knowledge, no Marine has that ability. The closest I can think of is in Big Mom's crew. Why do you ask?"

Ace exhaled as the slices across his skin throbbed, as the chill in his bones grew, and yet he felt relief. "Because some dead woman is sending my spirit to her daughter, all so I can save her daughter's life before mine ends. And I wanted to be sure she's not a fever dream that some Marine bitch is showing me," The tension fled his shoulders, and his expression softened without his knowledge causing Jimbe's eyes to fly wide. "I wanted to be sure because I think I might be falling for the moron, which is probably some shit timing on my part."

Jimbe blinked at him, his mouth opening and closing in shock. He had no idea what to say to that while Ace felt his lips quirk upward as he felt the sensation of something a bit firmer than he was used to brushing across his forehead. It seems he wasn't done yet, he was glad.

"So don't be surprised when I fall into a coma, I gotta solve her issue quickly. Guessing I don't have long before this war starts."

"You are scheduled for execution in four days. But Ace, you aren't making any sense."

Ace shrugged to the best of his ability, Jimbe would figure it out or he wouldn't, Ace didn't have the time to explain. Hands yanked on his consciousness, and the cell vanished.

Ace staggered forward, able to move once more. A quick glance down revealed his spirit had retained the bloodied marks across his body, and he knew Holly would ask about them. But first… black raced up his hand, and Ace straightened his spine. He had his Haki again, but for how long he didn't know, so he had to take advantage of it.

Striding forward Ace noted the books cast in every direction, Holly seemed to have abandoned the shelf and the room itself when he'd been talking to Jimbe. Taking advantage of the time alone, and well aware she had to be nearby, Ace quickly yanked a book from the shelf at random. Opening it to the inside cover, Ace snatched up a nearby pen and promptly started to write as clear of an explanation as he could. A step by step method to learning armament Haki so that if the Marines came early, if he died, then Holly could find it and could finish destroying the Horcruxes without him. She was always going through the books, he knew she'd see what he'd written eventually and thought it would take months for her to get the basics, Holly would do it. Ace knew she would.

With that done, he snapped the book closed and replaced it. Then he returned the pen to its rightful spot and allowed his Haki to fade. There, one task done. Now he just had to interrogate the banshee, so Holly didn't have to, then, unfortunately, he'd likely have to kill her. Once she knew what they wanted, she couldn't be allowed to escape. If she found out they were hunting for Voldemort's ties to life, he'd take measures to ensure they couldn't destroy them all. So no, Voldemort couldn't be allowed to discover the truth, ever.

"Ace!" Ace turned away from the shelf and found Holly staring at him in palpable relief. His heart skipped a beat when he saw her, and he relaxed entirely. She wasn't a trick; she was a real woman. "Bloody hell! I thought the Marines were going to kill you! You've never vanished completely before." She rushed forward, forgetting that he shouldn't be touchable at all, and embraced him. Ace used his haki to ensure she didn't fall right through his body, taking a moment to hold her even if he likely didn't have much to use.

Dismissively Ace flapped his free hand: "Nah, just a couple guards giving me a new bunk-mate…" he trailed off as Holly tightened her grip, as she leaned back, her eyes flicking to between his eyes and his lips in a debate. He held his breath, wondering if she'd do it; if she did, he wouldn't protest. Holly's eyes met hers, and he saw a glitter there, mischief perhaps? Would she actually…?

But she didn't. Holly abruptly pulled back: "A bunk-mate?" Holly noted the black where she'd been holding him and swatted at him playfully relieved to see it. "Don't do that again!"

"Not like I can help it." He had four days, but Holly did not need to know that. This was his perfect chance to turn her off her plan to risk her life to save his. Ace could tell her about Jimbe, he could say to her that he had much longer than the four days he honestly had. He just had to lie. "He's an ally to my father, an ally to my crew. And apparently, the Marines intend to use me as an example due to the power of my crew, of my father."

Holly's eyes narrowed in suspicious fury, these Marines sounded worse and worse with each mention, not to mention the wounds Ace kept gaining every time he vanished and came back. "What does that mean?"

"I have time, their whole plot… they intend to make my execution public, and when I'm being moved, is the best time to be rescued." He swallowed shoving back the truth, shoving back the tremor threatening to give him away, "they'll move me two weeks from now. We have until then to find a way to escape, or for you to steal me from them."

"Why does that time work when the others don't?" she was still suspicious, and Ace did his best to placate her.

"The strongest will be at the actual execution sight, the Marines won't expect rescue when I'm being transported because the path between the prison and the execution sight is one of the most secure Marine locations in the world due to the current." Ace grabbed for a scrap paper and quickly drew out the current between the three central locations of Marineford, Impel Down, and Enies Lobby. "Each one of these locations has a marine controlled door, and it's the only way to escape the current. When moving me from Impel down to Marineford, I'll be on this current."

"Oh, got it," Holly tapped his drawing, "with magic I can fly so the current won't affect me. So I can grab you and escape, and the lower level of security won't be able to stop me."

"Exactly." Ace watched her steal the drawing and pocket it, he watched her mind turning and tried to relax. It was actually a feasible plan… one his family likely wouldn't go with due to the challenge the Marines had put to them. Should he- no, who knew who would actually escort him. It could very well be someone like Akainu or Magellan, and those men would murder her on sight for trying to help him.

"So I need to find a way to travel between worlds, find this current… and get a second broom. I wonder if you can fly one? Something to test."

"And in the mean-time, we find the three Horcruxes unaccounted for and interrogate the Banshee." He finished.

"She'll probably know where one is… then the snake is probably one, Nagini, his pet."

"Living things can be one?" Ace was surprised to hear that. Holly implied otherwise.

She nodded to his question but didn't elaborate: "I should show you what Hermione guessed. See, the locket is a Slytherin item… so it's part of the school, which was his first real home. All the items we do know of is of sentimental value."

"Stupid, I'd have picked a random rock on the beach."

"That's what Ron said!" Holly laughed, "but Snake-face is oddly sentimental for a terrorist. Anyway, we guessed the other items were also involved with the school, especially after Dumbledore showed me a memory of him going after Helga Hufflepuff's cup." Holly went for the bookshelf, and Ace felt his heart leap into his chest when she went close to the book he'd written in. By some miracle, however, she didn't grab it and instead pulled out another. This she opened and showed him a random page.

"The Locket of Slytherin's wife, the cup of Helga Hufflepuff, and the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw… thought missing for centuries, but he very well could have found it." She tapped the picture showing him what the items looked like, "I think the diadem and the cup are the two other Horcruxes, I'll know for sure, depending on what Bellatrix tells us."

"So the pet snake, the cup, and this crown." Ace snorted, this was a treasure hunt, and the woman that resembled Holly had selected him, a pirate, to help her with it. It was like he was destined to do this, find some treasure, and save the girl. "Then Voldemort himself?"

Holly's face twitched "…right. Cup, crown, then snake… then we can kill Voldemort and save you. All in two weeks."

"Better get started then." Four days, three items, and the big guy. He could do it. "Ready to interrogate the banshee?"

"Ready." Ace turned his back to Holly and started toward the back room while Holly hesitated a moment, just a moment to lift her hand to her forehead and felt a rush of regret.

She trusted Ace, she believed now that he was genuinely going to help her and she… she liked him. This was beyond her temporary crushes on the boys at her school, it was so much more intense with Ace. Holly truly liked him, she wanted to know him better, wanted to spend every quiet moment at his side; she wanted nothing more than to take him by the shoulders and finally give in to that building desire in her gut. Holly wanted to kiss him, to feel his touch. She wanted to… bloody hell, she wanted to date him, wanted a relationship. Holly wanted it all and wanted so much longer than what either of them had.

She had been ready to do it just then. When Ace reappeared alive, she hadn't even thought to resist it. She'd been about to press their lips together regardless of all her hesitation. But then she'd caught his eyes and had just… done it. Maybe it was a whim or some instinctual part of her that demanded she do it. Holly had caught his eyes and… she'd looked. Holly honestly couldn't judge him; she was lying, so it wasn't a surprise Ace was all well for her own good. And lying he was.

Four days.

Ace had four days to live. She had four days to solve that problem, and everyone else could screw off until she'd done it.