A thick curled tail vanished into the tent's wall as Holly's new Patronus sped away towards Hermione. It's distinct stripes differing by a slightly darker tint of white. Holly distantly found it fascinating, the idea of a tiger as a Patronus. It reminded her of pure magic and the ability to hold darkness and light hand in hand. For the tiger was as white as the love-filled magic used to create it, but the stripes… the stripes were an incredibly light gray. Holly hadn't even realized it was possible to have a Patronus be anything but pure blinding white.

It fit Holly decided because Ace was all that. He held darkness just as he held light, and knew he'd do what it took to protect his loved ones and… and her. Holly also knew that Ace's actions, his willingness to do what it took would easily be considered dark to the magical community. If anyone else was standing in her spot, Hermione or Ron, Remus, even Sirius! If any of them had been in her position, waiting around as Ace killed a woman just steps away… they'd be horrified. But Holly, she just felt… safe.

"How ironic," she murmured to herself. Here she was feeling safe when her world was actively ending. This was her last day on earth; everything in her knew that that fact was an uncontested truth. And still, she'd never felt safer. True, she could argue it was the feeling of her Patronus and that the distinct taste of safety would fade. Yet she knew that saying so would be a lie.

Holly lifted her face as the door to Hermione's room opened, and Ace stepped forward. She watched the black fade from his hands and took a slightly aborted step forward. Her mind was whirling, thoughts on repeat. The terror of what she knew would occur, the awareness in her blood that Ace's fate was now in Hermione's hands, and the intense desire too… too just-

"Holly?" Ace reached her side quicker than he should have. His hand was raised, reaching for her arm but not touching and as she glanced up Holly saw something, something almost vulnerable in Ace's eyes; it was a breath away from uncertain as if he wasn't sure she'd even allow him to touch her now that he'd killed a woman. Holly, the second she realized why he was hesitating, finished the movement she'd denied herself. She stepped straight into Ace's space and buried her head under his chin.

They had to hurry, Voldemort was already acting, and the longer she hesitated, the worse the outcome. Holly understood that, she did! But this was her last chance to… it was her last quiet moment. Holly knew the instant they left the tent, everything would speed up. She'd be running blind without a plan, desperately trying to destroy as many Horcruxes as she could before she and Voldemort had their final brutal battle. Before she died, hopefully dragging Voldemort with her.

She just wanted a moment.

"Holly?" Ace's hands automatically wrapped around her back, and she knew he could feel her tears on his skin. His fingers flexed on her back, fluttered uncertainly, "Holly, it's going to be fine. I can handle that snake-faced beast with one arm tied behind my back." He gave a chuckle, and Holly bit her lip to prevent the sob from escaping her. She should have told him the full truth, she really should have- "Holly~" he sang her name, unsure how to act with a woman crying into his arms, he could say it was a first. "The guys nothing but a punk, we've got this."

She breathed deep, braced herself, and then pulled back to look Ace right in the eyes. That was it; her time was up. "I know," she nodded firmly as if to convince herself that she was ready, "now let's go mess him up."

In return, Ace scoffed, "you gotta learn to swear more often," he was joking with her, joking to ease her anxiety, but all Holly could focus on was his hands. His left hand reached up and wiped her tears away with a gentle touch. As he turned the same palm to run his knuckles across her cheek while his other hand squeezed her back in comfort. Acknowledging her fear and reassuring her in a dozen different ways that things would be fine.

By the gods, Holly wished she could believe that.

"Let's go." Ace said once he was sure she could handle it.

"Lets." Holly agreed as she gripped tight to his biceps. He'd come with her when she apparated even if she hadn't held on, but Holly didn't want to take any chances. So she gripped Ace tight and with a twist of her heel apparated straight out of the tent that she'd never seen again.

-And they landed in a war zone.

"Bloody fu-" Ace wrenched on her arms and dragged her downward, a bright green spell shot passed her head to splash against Gringott's walls. Holly scrambled to adjust despite everything Ace drilled into her about fighting. She couldn't help it as her trainers slipped in a thick layer of blood coating the ground. Truthfully it was only Ace's grip on her arms that kept her from ending up on her ass. He held her upright, kept her safe. All the while, Ace was already analyzing their situation, taking in the area they'd landed in and was coming up with a plan for battle on the spot as any good captain did. It was something he'd learned to do over the years, something Holly would figure out eventually… if she were given a chance.

Ace was, by then, used to finding himself in large chaotic battles. Crew against crew, men dying around them, with the shower of wood pelting against his body, adding fuel to his fire. Ace knew how to handle canon fire and death screams, to react to the deck being blasted apart by his ankles and how to adjust accordingly to a sword swinging for his neck at that very same moment. It was how he'd known to prepare for anything when he felt the now familiar sensation of Holly's apparition. Knew how long the squeezing sensation would last before he may need to dodge or pull Holly out of the path of a lethal spell.

But this wasn't the same sort of battle, what they'd landed it was nothing short of a massacre. It was a large room of stone, desks were shattered, and the walls were melted, but any sign of fight was minimal. This was no 'battle' where both sides fought for their lives, and one came out on top. This was the equivalent of a Yonko against a rookie; it was nothing but a one-sided blood bath. Creatures, goblins Ace was fairly certain going off Holly's earlier description, were scattered across the floor. Some lay face down as if asleep, others with their chests caved in, but all of them dead.

In the middle of the mess was Voldemort barefoot in the blood. At his heel was a giant snake curled up safely. The man had a single living goblin in his grip; the bank teller was danging in mid-air, struggling to remove the hand, preventing him from taking a breath. Voldemort himself, however, was turned their way, he'd caught their arrival, and they had to act accordingly.

"Potter," a smile that could curdle blood was growing on Voldemort's face, and Holly wasn't mistaken when she caught the blatant relief in his gaze. He knew because of their timing that they hadn't destroyed his Horcrux, he knew it was safe and could, therefore, focus on Holly. He knew that all he had to do was kill Holly and he'd win. There would be no more concern for the prophecy, no reason to doubt his final victory. And all he had to do was kill one minuscule seventeen-year-old girl.

"Holly." Ace straightened from his crouch and slid his feet apart in a familiar fighting stance. Preparing for a hell of a fight, Ace braced his arms and fisted his palms. Then firmly, he gave her one word: "Go."

They had no time to plan, no time to discuss, they just had to act, and Ace was confident Holly understood him well enough to know exactly what she should do next. Ace didn't need to tell her. He didn't know where the cup was, didn't know where to find it, so she had to. He'd stall Voldemort, then, when she had the cup in hand, she'd apparate straight out of the bank, and like he had back when she'd first tried to leave him, he'd follow right along.

That was their best plan, and she knew it.

Holly straightened from her own crouch and felt herself feel a little… annoyed. Somewhat because Ace was once again giving her hope. Because if he was right and everything went according to that spur of the moment plan, then Holly and Ace would survive this battle. She'd live again. And she was almost annoyed by the universe always making her think, 'today's the day,' only to give her more time. A part of her wanted to just get it over with, but that part had been firmly smothered into it was nothing but an ember, invisible when compared to Ace's flames.

"Don't die."

"Please, as if I'll let this bastard kill me," Ace inhaled as he did for every battle, inhaled as if he had a fire in his gut. Oxygen powered his abilities and strengthened his devil fruit. Oxygen in his lungs kept him going while the lack of it ensured his defeat against Teach. The traitor had known Ace needed to breathe, so Teach had suffocated him to win. Well, now Ace had no fire. He was just a normal human using haki against a wizard. It could be worse Ace figured, and on the upside, he'd definitely get the satisfaction of punching Voldemort in the throat for everything the bastard had done to Holly.

In the end, though, Ace knew it would be an exciting battle.

"Go." He said again before he surged forward. The first blow was the most important in this fight, and Ace wasn't going to hesitate and miss it. His fist extended as he punched out against Voldemort. As Ace swung all his weight at the man's stupid looking sunken nose. Voldemort, unfortunately, must have sensed something, for a shield spawned between them. Ace's haki coated knuckles smashed into the invisible shield, and it shattered under his skin.

Used to sparring with Holly Ace pushed passed the first level of defense to follow up into Voldemort's face. He struck true, but the killing blow Ace intended became nothing more than a brutal punch due to the shield. The magic had taken power out of Ace's blow. He was satisfied enough that had Voldemort carried a typical nose, Ace would have broken it. As it was, Ace dismissed the thought and rushed to follow up on his first attack with a second.

"Bring it ugly," Ace snapped out as his foot went swinging for Voldemort's chest. If he could hit accurately, he'd drive the oxygen from Voldemort's lungs, which would cause his spells - mostly requiring vocal help - to falter. With that, Ace would be able to land correctly and ideally snap the bastard's neck before catching up to Holly. He quite obviously, wasn't that lucky. The man recovered far too quickly from Ace's first attack and hurtled a spell into Ace's chest. Ace was thrown bodily across the room, sent twisting as he attempted to land on his feet.

Ace caught his footing at the last moment and went skidding backward. Any attempts to rush back into close quarters - his best chance at victory considering his fighting method - was failed when his bare feet slid in the blood coating the floor. Ace clucked his tongue in displeasure before throwing himself to the side as he narrowly avoided a follow-up spell. He had no time to wish for boots that would help his grip in the gunk as he vaulted over a destroyed desk. Another spell sliced clean through the desk, but Ace was already circling around to charge Voldemort again.

The man clearly wanted Ace to keep his distance though, as Voldemort shot a spell at the floor. Large amounts of blood near the man collected together and formed a living hooded snake that snapped in Ace's direction. It knew where Ace was, which meant, Voldemort despite being unable to see Ace, also knew where he was. Ace wasn't sure how Voldemort was tracking him. It could have been an instantly cast spell when Ace got contact on his face, it could also be the vibration Voldemort could feel on the floor with his snake-altered body, or it could be the bloodied footprints Ace was leaving across the ground. It really didn't matter. The man was tracking him, and was Voldemort was desperate to end the battle.

Because Holly was a quick little monster, she'd already grabbed the single living goblin in the room and had vanished behind the large doors at the back of the room. She'd done all that under fire from Voldemort's spells, done it in the moment Ace charged.

Ace was proud of her, and he would ensure she had her chance to find the damned cup. He wouldn't give Voldemort a single inch. Voldemort would not pursue Holly, he wouldn't get anywhere near her.

Not as long as Ace was present and able to fight.

And he charged once more.

"Prongs!"

"Nows really not a great time Padfoot." His hands were shaking, he could feel them shaking, but he couldn't see them. They had faded, his entire spirit was fading. He was out of magic, had nothing left to give; none of them did, but he still couldn't stop. The fading climbed up his arms as he kept his hands on Ace's shoulders, as he stayed there as his body, what was left behind, started to burn. But at the same time, he lost feeling in everything else. As if that part of him didn't exist.

He was vanishing, and not one of them knew what it would mean for his soul.

But he still didn't let go.

"Prongs stop!" Sirius grabbed for his hands and tried to tug them off Ace's shoulders, but his hands went straight through James's body. Another damning sign. Ghosts to could touch each other and if Sirius couldn't touch him, then James was no longer a ghost. "Stop! James!"

"She's not safe yet." He gasped out. He could sense Ace, feel what was happening. In the back of James' consciousness, he could sense a dulled echo of Ace's emotions and damn if that just made him more attached to the kid. His son in law, his little girl's soulmate loved her so much. Ace was full to the brim with protective instinct and willing to risk his life to save Holly's. And what James wouldn't give to be among the living at that moment. So he could tell Ace that he was accepted and eagerly welcomed into the Potter family, to actually help save them both so they didn't have to suffer so much alone.

"Let me-"

"You have nothing to give either Padfoot." He sank to his knees when he lost feeling in his legs.

"Rouge-"

"She doesn't know how." Please, by all the gods… please- he could feel the fight in Ace, feel the boy pulling on James spirit unaware. Ace was fighting tooth and nail, utilizing enormous amounts of haki to defend himself and Holly. It was pulling James out of existence but he didn't care. He'd already died for his pup, doing it again would be nothing shocking.

"That's it! I'm getting Lily," yes, that would be good. She couldn't stop him either, but he'd like to see her one last time.

"Someones coming!" James and Sirius both snapped toward Jimbe, the Fishman who Rouge said could be trusted. The large blue figure who'd guarded Ace's sleep with the them. Who'd distracted, snarled, and insulted when a guard had approached earlier to check on them. When that same guard moved with intent to hurt and likely torture Ace as the ones before had. Jimbe had effortlessly pulled the guard's attention, and Ace had been allowed to remain under James' magic to stay with Holly.

They were grateful to the Fishman who was looking around the cell as if trying to find them. Jimbe, Rouge told them, was highly intelligent. He'd already taken the brief words Ace had given him and had come up with a plausible and accurate guess of what was happening to his friend.

"I can sense them, it's Magellan and Hancock… they cannot know about this, you must wake Ace."

Sirius and James exchanged a look as footsteps approached, as Sirius pleaded with him, begging him to let go. "James, please."

"She'll die- I can't… not my Holly…"

"Have faith in her," Sirius insisted, "Ace gave her hope, he gave her hope. She'll survive this! James, trust them!"

The sound of footsteps got closer. Jimbe was speaking again to them, urging them to release Ace and the dangers of failing to do so. James didn't need the warnings, while Lily had been with Ace he'd looked into the guard of Impel down. He and Sirius had spent hours memorizing the prison and all it's potential escape routes with hope in their hearts. Hope that Holly and Ace would defeat Voldemort and that Holly would use their secretive help to rescue Ace in return.

James knew the danger Magellan posed, knew how dangerous a single touch of that man. He knew Ace had to be aware when Magellan was nearby because if that man suspected anything- but if James released Ace, Holly would be- his daughter would be helpless and unaware that Ace had been dragged away for an unknown amount of time. She'd be racing through Gringott's with Voldemort on her heels, and James knew he couldn't send Ace back to her.

If he let go now, then that was it. There was nothing left he could do.

"James!"

But if he didn't, then Ace would be in danger. Magellan could very well poison Ace while he was helpless, and James couldn't risk that either.

"Bugger!" James wrenched his hands from Ace's shoulders, and the boy came to with a gasp.

"I swear to Circe I'll imperio you!" Holly threatened as she bodily hauled the goblin out of the cart. The single living teller was a furious mess as she dragged him along the hallways demanding to know where Bellatrix's vault was. He was less than helpful.

"My people have been killed, my honor demands I avenge them by-"

"I give zero shits about your honor or traditions!" well, Ace had told her to swear more, she would oblige. "The snake-faced bastard just killed every goblin in here for this cup, and if I can't get it, you can start considering him your supreme overlord. So if you want him dead like I do, you will show me to Bellatrix's vault now." She truly was reaching the end of her tether now that she was off telling random goblins about the Horcruxes. All she wanted was that cup and to leave. All she wanted was to find a way to save Ace and then herself in that order. She didn't want to be bodily dragging one single obnoxious goblin through Gringott's to find Hufflepuff's stupid cup all because Dumbledore had to keep everything in his life secret.

If she died today, she was so finding Dumbledore in the afterlife just to punch the bastard in the throat for all the shit he'd dropped onto her shoulders. Hmm, Ace might have corrupted her more than she thought actually.

"I do not listen to humans." Oh, that was it.

"Screw it!" She turned on her heel wrenching up her stolen wand and shoved it into the goblins forehead. "Imperio!" all the magic in her body slammed into the poor goblins unprotected mind. He didn't stand a chance as she took over his entire being with her spell. His eyes glazed, and he obediently dropped into a more subservient stance as he waited for Holly to give him orders. She opened her mouth to do so- and an explosion rocked the bank down the lowest levels.

Holly shot a wide-eyed look at the roof as several rocks fell shook loose by the force of it. A moment after it occurred, she steadied her shields as a flare-up of pure rage echoed through the Horcrux within her. Holly personally took that as a good sign, yes the explosion was terrible, but Voldemort wouldn't be that angry if he'd succeeded at killing Ace. Yes, it was a good side, Ace was fine. He was her vanguard, protecting her as she collected the cup. He'd hold out. He was strong enough to hold out when only Dumbledore had ever matched Voldemort in battle.

Ace was there, everything was fine.

Holly turned to the goblin and made her demands. Because Ace was fine, but that didn't mean she didn't need to hurry.

Ace laughed in taunt as he won a brutal point from Voldemort. Back and forth, they'd gone, and the room looked nothing like it had when Ace and Holly had entered. The walls were caverned out, the floor a mess of rubble, the bodies long ago blasted into dust. Voldemort's dominant arm was broken thanks to a well-placed blow from Ace. However, that strike had cost Ace the use of his own.

His shoulder was a mess of tissue and bone. His skin had been blown clean off, and Ace could make out the white of his upper arm. Unfortunately, Ace was forced to let his limb hang loose as he had nothing to bind the wound with. He did his best to ignore the pain and the way his arm wasn't bleeding while he furiously fought to win and to defend Holly as she completed her task. He had a feeling she'd probably be upset at the state of his body when they finally escaped, but there was little he could do about it by this point. He might even secretly be looking forward to it, to be fussed over… cared about.

Regardless of the state of his arm, Ace was still winning more points than he'd lost. The latest was just proof of that. Because, while Voldemort couldn't see him, he could see his pet snake floating mid-air in Ace's grip. Just as Voldemort could see the damned things' broken body after Ace snapped its head from its body. Ace knew he'd genuinely won when ghastly familiar energy escaped the snake as it had the locket. That and Voldemort looked scared. A victory in itself.

On the downside, it made for a more dangerous opponent. Voldemort had been unpredictable enough before, but now he was angry and aware, and Ace had to act instantly if he wanted to survive. Voldemort now knew that Ace was very capable of destroying his Horcruxes and had destroyed one before Voldemort's very eyes.

The battle was only going to get more difficult, but oh, Ace couldn't wipe the smile from his face as he cast the snake casually to the side. As it's limp body cracked across the ground, a taunt Ace could accomplish and a satisfying one considering he'd just tossed the man's soul to the side.

"Though, it's not nearly as satisfying when you can't hear me taunting you." Ace said as he swiped his single useful hand across his mouth. Still no blood, but there should be. He'd taken enough blows to know there should be blood. "That, and I can't stall you with anger." He added the comment as an after-thought before twisting his body to the side. The spell nearly sliced through his abdomen, and going from the look of the wall behind him, that would have been very bad.

Internally he hoped Holly hurried up just a smidge, they still had two Horcruxes to destroy before they killed Voldemort, and the man was getting more and more unhinged. Ace was beginning to worry Voldemort might just attempt to bring the roof down on their heads. But that might also be because his father most definitely would have done that by this point.

"Avada kedavra!"

Ace sighed: "You really need to learn new spells." He easily side-stepped the lethal blow, it was no more dangerous than avoiding a canon. One spell, though an instant death if touched, was not a concern. The true problem was the rapid-fire and transfiguration the man was also capable of. Thankfully for Ace the angrier Voldemort grew, the less he relayed on those more powerful spells. "I mean, talk about a one-trick seahorse-"

Something tugged his chest, and Ace gasped distracted for an instant as Voldemort hurled a literal rain of spells toward him. And they struck right where he'd been a split second before.

Suddenly Ace found he was no longer in Holly's world. Instead, he was sitting in Impel Down, as every wound he'd suffered during the battle struck him. He gasped in shocked pain as his soul suffered the blow, ever nerve lit up at once, and his muscles spasmed. But there was still no blood because not one of his injures had been done to his actual body, which remained trapped inside Impel down. Muscles still spasming Ace jerked against the chains, had he had the proper range of motion he would have tried to work the areas to soothe the pain. As it was, he couldn't reach, and he was forced still with what affective felt like a Charlie horse across his whole body.

"Shit." He exhaled and wrenched up his head to see why he'd been pulled away from Holly at such a crucial moment. As he did, he caught sight of a pair of men within the cell. One with Holly's obnoxious hair though drastically shorter and the other familiar as the same figure in Holly's photo album. Then Ace wrenched his eyes from them as someone walked in front of the cell wall. Jimbe was silent as Ace locked gazes with the warden of Impel down, Magellan. Ace shot a swift glance at Jimbe, who remained silent before she walked out.

He'd never seen Boa Hancock in person before, but he'd heard the rumors. That her powers worked in tandem with attraction. Though he gave away nothing in his expression, Ace felt a bit… smug in the knowledge that he felt nothing for the woman. Yes, she was attractive, but Holly had stolen his attention, and even without her present, she was all he cared to look at in a woman. So Ace simply stared the woman down, wondering why she was here with Magellan of all people. Why they deemed it important enough to disturb him. Why he'd been forced out of a crucial battle for a staredown with a shichibukai while Holly was utterly unaware that he was no longer able to stall Voldemort.

His expression grew darker at the moment when Boa Hancock's expression suddenly shifted. He still felt nothing, but the prisoners nearby lost their minds as she admitted her fear. He didn't find it cute, not when he'd just had Holly shaking in his arms. The chaos seemed to annoy Magellan, and Ace resisted the urge to flinch as the man's poison exploded around them as it polluted the air. On instinct, Ace held his breath- only to lose it as Hancock quickly spoke and shook his worlds on their foundations.

"Are you serious?" he demanded, unable to help himself as Hancock turned away from his cell. As his instincts warred. Because if he gave anything away to Magellan while he was there than Luffy would-

"I have no reason to lie." Hancock drawled in response, and damn if that wasn't accurate. She honestly had no reason to lie and less reason to even guess that he and Luffy were related beyond a casual acquaintance.

Hancock left, taking Magellan with her, and Ace remained chained down. Jimbe finally asked what that was all about. Ace was forced to explain while a pair of horrified ghosts exchanged a look.

"James-"

"Go." James told Sirius because there was nothing more he could do for Ace or Holly. But they could at the least watch over Ace's brother. A damned wild-card in their plans and one they all hope succeeded.

Holly raced into the vault looking for the cup and spotted it exactly where Bellatrix had left it. Another explosion rocked the bank as she hurtled forward and started to climb the shelves so she could reach it. The cup naturally had to be on the highest level, and Holly knew that any magic use to summon it to her would result in a brutal backlash because her magic and Bellatrix's had a different signature.

As she climbed, her fingers brushed against some unimportant bobble, and she heard a magical pop. Alarmed Holly shot a look at her hand and watched a bracelet fall from the shelves to strike the ground. It bounced slightly, which the fall could explain, then bounced again higher and split into two. Holly's eyes went wide as she realized there was a gemino spell on the items within Bellatrix's vault. Anything she touched would duplicate endlessly, and they would very likely hex Holly if she allowed any of the copies access to her skin.

Worse yet, another explosion rocked the bank, and a dozen items collapsed off the shelves, most of them brushing her on the way down. The speed of duplication tripled as that occurred and grossly lowered how long she had in the vault. Holly turned hurriedly back to the shelf and scrambled upward, her hand landed in a pile of coins, and it caused a literal shower of gold to knock an eerily familiar sword off one of the shelves. All it except the sword bounced and exploded into life, and it was starting to burn.

Snarling Holly jumped for the cup and snatched it firmly off the pillow it had been left on. Keeping her grip tight so she didn't lose it. Holly dropped off the shelf and rolled until she was back on her feet. She rolled through countless burning bits of metal and treasure and felt every singe of her skin. Jewelry caught on her clothing, and with her free hand, Holly snatched them free to toss them clear across the vault. As they landed, they caused more charms to go off, and she was quickly running out of room in the small room.

"Bugger-" she struggled forward, finding the copies already up to her waist and growing higher every moment- when she felt something sharp glide across the back of her ankle. Holly nearly dropped as suddenly her leg burned. She shot a look down and shot a spell at the collection by her feet. Perhaps a mistake as items of all kinds were blown everywhere to clear her path. It caused a hundred more reactions but gave her a clear view of what had cut her.

Horror slid up her spine as she realized what it was. What had happened in an instant. Because what had cut her was the sword. The very same sword Dumbledore had tried to give her in his will, the sword she'd used to slay the basilisk. Gryffindor's sword was in Bellatrix's vault it- it had been used to kill a basilisk, that snakes venom was in the-

Her leg was burning, but Holly was no longer sure that was due to the metal steadily piling over her head. Because the sword had cut her, the smallest little cut and it was infused in basilisk venom.

Holly laughed.

That was it then, this was her last day on earth, and it had nothing due to Voldemort. Because Ace had protected her from Voldemort, but not from fate.

She stood in the mess, only briefly glancing down at her leg to see dark green lines steadily crawling up her legs. She probably had minutes left then. Tom had said it was a quick yet painful death. Holly had an idea of how much, after all, it had almost killed her when she'd been twelve. Maybe she'd been destined to die then. Perhaps it had been her denying fate back then that brought Fawkes to her… Holly doubted she'd get that lucky again.

She felt blank as she crawled free of the vault, as she struggled against the tide. As her leg burned and her body ached. Holly escaped despite that because the pain didn't matter now, just like it hadn't mattered when Ginny's life had been at risk. This was the same as then; it was her destroying a Horcrux with basilisk venom polluting her body.

Holly tripped as she left the vault, staggered and caught herself against the wall of the bank. As she did, she spotted Voldemort surging toward her. Ace was gone, something must have happened to him, he must have been pulled back to his world… but that was fine. She didn't want him to see her die.

Holly crawled to her knees and placed the cup on the floor, took her time as Voldemort flew forward, and when he was close, she brought the sword down on the damned thing. The cup caved in under the sword's power, and she glanced up to meet the red of Voldemort's eyes.

"NO!"

"…Yes." She snarled right on back in taunt.

"Send me back." Hancock and Magellan had only just left, and Ace was already searching the cell for them. The ghosts, Holly's ghosts that had sent him into her world. He couldn't deny it anymore, he knew it was her father and Sirius Black that had done it. Those two and most likely Holly's mother that had brought him to her, they offered him… offered him peace before his life ended.

He could guess their intentions but not why they'd selected him to save her, and truthfully, it didn't matter. He loved her now, and he could save her when he couldn't protect anyone else. Saving her was the least… and likely the last he could choose to do.

"Send me back!" they never took so long, why weren't they- "do it now! She needs me!"

"Ace…" Jimbe leaned forward as Ace grew as unhinged as Voldemort had just been. As he grew frantic, the longer it seemed to take. Because Voldemort was hunting Holly down that very moment, and Luffy was inside Impel down. Because his father was going to war, and all of it was his fault. If he hadn't gone after Teach then Luffy wouldn't be in Impel down, there would be no war, and someone else would be protecting Holly. Someone who actually could.

"SEND ME BACK!"

"Can you?"

"I don't have anything left Rouge, I couldn't even I wanted to."

"Ace!"

"No!" he snapped at Jimbe as his world enclosed on him, "she needs me, I have to protect her-" he had to be able to protect somebody, "she's mine- I love her-" he froze and swore. There it was, out in the open. "I love her, and I'm going to die. They're going to execute me, and that snake faced bitch is going to kill her-" Had this been what his father had felt? Had he loved Rouge as much as Ace loved Holly? Had Roger been sitting in a cell like this all those years ago? Aware that the world was looking for Rouge and him? Had he felt this sick at the thought?

"You are not going to die Ace," Jimbe straightened on the spot, "Whitebeard will never allow it,"

"Then show me how to do it."

"Rouge, you don't have magic you might not even be able to-"

"Lily taught me how to connect them, you just need to show me how to hold the connection."

"Rouge-"

"You show me James Potter or so help me god, I'll use haki just to slap you into the next universe!"

"…damn alright, first-"

"And he'll die too." Ace choked out as he felt the sensation of hands slip onto his shoulder. Wide-eyed, he turned as much as the chains would allow him to see who was behind him, and he met chocolate eyes with light pink hair. An echo of his freckles sat on a kind face, and his mother gripped his shoulders before she mouthed her wish. 'Go to her Ace, and save her so she can save you.'

"Mo-" the world twisted away.

Ace landed in a cave, landed among the after-math of a battle. Rocks fell from the ceiling as Gringott's an ancient building full of caverns slowly collapsed.

At the center of the chaos was Holly on her knees. A sword was firm in her grip, and a shattered cup lay underneath it. All the while, Holly smirked as if remembering another moment precisely like the one she was currently facing. Ace watched as Voldemort stared Holly down. As Voldemort pointed his wand at her temple. Lay it on the scar he'd given her. As he blatantly reminded her that this was not that moment, that she was not twelve, and he would not turn to dust because she'd destroyed the cup.

Holly snarled in defiance, and Voldemort's wand lit up green.

"HOLLY!" his throat shook with the scream, his vocal cords vibrating so loudly that it hurt. He dove forward like he had the first time he'd seen Holly under Voldemort's wand. He threw his body toward them and snatched hold of Voldemort's neck. The man gasped in realization, and a green light flashed at the same moment, Ace brutally jerked his hands to the side. As he snapped Voldemort's neck with his own bare hands and ended a war.

All it took was one moment, one moment that Voldemort had been entirely too focused on the girl destined to defeat him, and he was dead. His body disintegrating on the spot as Ace fell to his knees and caught Holly's limp body with shaking hands.

He didn't acknowledge the thought as her head lulled forward as he caught sight of her blank, pale green eyes. He couldn't think it. He hadn't been too late, he hadn't. He maneuvered Holly's body until she was in his arms. Until her head was pressed to his chest. Held her as the sword fell from her limp fingers. As he smiled a false broken little thing, while tears raced down his cheeks and fell into her hair.

"He's dead Holly, you won. We did it." Her head was limp, lulled without weight as he rocked her close. "We won, so… so, you don't need to learn haki now." Rocks collapsed beside him, and the single living goblin was staring at them awareness coming to him as the imperio that controlled him snapped with the casters dea- "I wrote in your book you know, I… explained how you could learn haki without me." His voice broke as he confessed the truth to her cor- to her bod- to- "I thought you could use it after I was gone because I lied to you, Holly. I don't have weeks, I have days… at best. They're going to kill me and… and I should have told you."

He couldn't sense her, he had always felt her spirit with his haki, but now he couldn't sense her. She was gone. She was dea-

Her eyes continued to stare blankly up at him, lifeless in an unmistakable way.

She was- Holly was-

Ace felt her body pulled from his arms, felt the tug as a pair of gentle hands, his mother's hands, pulled from his shoulders. He didn't look for her. Didn't react as Holly's world faded, and the cell returned. He'd failed again, failed to save the person he loved.

And something inside him, something tentative and secretly, something he held deep within his chest that could be called hope… finally shattered.

She felt the sway of a ship under her back, felt the rise and fall of the ocean, and smelled distinct scent of ocean spray as seawater struck against wood. Unfamiliar fabric coated her skin, heavy and stretched in a strange way, but it was soft, comforting somehow.

Slowly Holly's eyes fluttered open, and she found an endless sea of blue above her. Slower still, because the last she remembered was a cave, Holly pushed herself into a seated position and took in her surroundings. Her first guess was correct, even if impossible. She was on a ship with an enormous sail above her, it sat there with the skull and crossbones draw across it. The sign itself wasn't a familiar one, it looked nothing like the one Ace had tattooed on his back. Yet it inexplicably called to her, like she should know it.

And then a voice spoke up from behind her.

"Holly Lily Potter… it about time I met my future daughter-in-law."